Understanding information (in)equity: influencing factors and medical information's role in bridging the gap.

Medical Information in the pharmaceutical industry involves the creation and dissemination of evidence-based scientific medical content in response to questions about medicines and therapy areas for patients and healthcare professionals. Health information equity can be broadly defined as the distribution of health information in a way that is accessible and understandable to all users, allowing them to benefit and reach their full potential for health. Ideally, this information would be made available to all those in need across the globe.

The Medical Information Scientific Process: Define, Research, Evaluate, Synthesize, and Share (DRESS).

Medical information (MI) professionals are primarily responsible for researching and responding to unsolicited requests for information on their company's product(s). In an effort to set a standard for quality, the Pharma Collaboration for Transparent Medical Information (phactMI) created a code of practice for the provision of medical information to healthcare professionals. This code introduced the term "MI science skills" to describe the expertise required to perform the duties of an MI professional.

Pharma Collaboration for Transparent Medical Information (phactMI) Benchmark Study: Trends, Drivers, Success Factors, and Value of Globalization in Medical Information.

Background: Over the past decade, biopharmaceutical companies have been progressively establishing global frameworks across their capabilities. It is well recognized that the Medical Information (MI) department is a key externally facing function that needs to maintain a consistent focus on optimizing its capabilities of addressing product medical inquiries worldwide.

Methods: In the United States, a consortium named Pharma Collaboration for Transparent Medical Information, phactMI, a collaboration of pharmaceutical company MI departments dedicated to supporting health care professionals in their commitment to provide quality patient care, has provided a forum to benchmark and share best practices across the companies.

A Theory on the Relativity of Factors Impacting the Utilization of Medical Information Services From the Pharmaceutical Industry.

Health care providers have many options for obtaining answers to their questions about pharmaceutical products. These options include drug information curators and aggregators such as ePocrates, WebMD, and Wikipedia, as well as professional journals. However, drug information obtained directly from a pharmaceutical company is arguably the best source of information regarding that company's medicine.

SNRIs in the management of acute major depressive disorder.

Remission of a patient's index major depressive episode is essential in preventing a recurrent or chronic depressive course. Once remission is established, the subsequent goal is to maintain remission and prevent a relapse of the episode with a minimum of 4 to 9 months of continuation treatment. Common belief suggests that all antidepressants have equivalent efficacy when measured by remission, but this may be a misconception based on limitations in current clinical trial methods.

Treatment of pain syndromes with venlafaxine.

Major depressive disorder (MDD) and anxiety disorders such as generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) are often accompanied by chronic painful symptoms. Examples of such symptoms are backache, headache, gastrointestinal pain, and joint pain. In addition, pain generally not associated with major depression or an anxiety disorder, such as peripheral neuropathic pain (e.