Center for Pharmaceutical Marketing and Management

WHAT WE DO

CPMM is a research center of excellence that advances research, teaching, and service in the areas of medication use and health outcomes, management of pharmacy organizations, and the marketing and utilization of appropriate medications in all segments of the healthcare industry. The CPMM works closely with the Department of Pharmacy Administration, and almost all CPMM research projects in the center and department are conducted by collaborative teams of faculty, staff, and graduate students working in the two units.

The Center for Pharmaceutical Marketing and Management

is a center of excellence that advances research, teaching, and service in the areas of medication use and health outcomes, management of healthcare organizations, and the marketing and utilization of cost-saving and appropriate medications in all segments of the healthcare industry. The CPMM contributes through graduate teaching and graduate research experiences to help make the graduate program in the Department of Pharmacy Administration one, if not the, strongest graduate program with an emphasis on pharmacy management, pharmaceutical marketing, and medication use outcomes. Collaborative research is important in the CPMM, and almost all of the research projects in the center and department are conducted by collaborative teams of faculty, staff, and graduate students working in the two units.

Mission

The mission of the Center for Pharmaceutical Marketing and Management is to promote efficient and effective marketing and management of products and services in all segments of pharmacy, health care, and the pharmaceutical industry. The CPMM also provides an environment where business, government, and education can all come together to exchange research ideas, results, and information.

History

The current CPMM was created by a merger of the Pharmaceutical Marketing and Management Program in RIPS, started in 1986, and an existing center of the same name in the Department of Pharmacy Administration in the School of Pharmacy. The CPMM is a natural outgrowth of the faculty's expertise and reputation, and it capitalizes on strategic partnerships between CPMM and the Department of Pharmacy Administration and other departments at the University.

Our Research

The Center for Pharmaceutical Marketing and Management has an established history of securing funding from varied resources that goes back to even before it was designated an official center within RIPS. The Center receives substantial external funding from Federal agencies (like the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services), non-profit associations, and various pharmaceutical companies.

Because of the strong alignment between the missions of the CPMM and the Department of Pharmacy Administration, most research is conducted as collaborative projects between the two units.

Projects in the MUORP take advantage of the faculty’s skills in both primary research and the analysis of large secondary data sets. The CPMM maintains a PHI Restricted Research Server for outcomes research using Medicare, Medicaid, and other administrative claims data sets. These data sets, along with national survey data sets and prescription data sets from community pharmacies, are used by the faculty and graduate students to conduct pharmacoepidemiology and pharmacovigilance research projects.

Given the powerful link between medication use and health outcomes, the CPMM research and initiatives in this area stand to improve health benefit design and prescription drug utilization for Mississippi Medicaid beneficiaries and Medicare recipients nationwide.

Pharmacies are important small businesses in the state of Mississippi and are critical to the access and provision of healthcare nationally. Activities in the PEP include research to understand innovation in today’s pharmacy practice and the development of new healthcare services. It also includes initiatives to assist community pharmacies in adapting to today’s environment by providing advice to individuals who are struggling to remain viable.

A major project in the PEP is the dissemination of the RxSync for Pharmacies™ manual, which assists community pharmacies in adopting the RxSync Service™. This project has the potential to help community pharmacies be more competitive while increasing patient compliance, satisfaction, and health outcomes. The projects in the PEP are beneficial to small businesses, which are an essential part of providing healthcare in the state and the nation.

Activities in the PMRP include research to understand pharmaceutical companies’ practices and how they affect the utilization of medications – examples of this can be seen in direct-to-consumer advertising and strategies to affect physician prescribing. This program has researched to investigate medication use patterns in various populations, test various marketing strategies, and measure the influence various factors have on the prescribing of pharmaceuticals.

The PMRP has also conducted analyses of new drugs to evaluate their commercial viability – including compounds being developed at the National Center for Natural Products Research, the other research center within RIPS. The true potential of this program lies in developing strategies to affect appropriate marketing and prescribing of pharmaceuticals. As a result, this program area has the potential to enhance the utilization of cost-saving and appropriate medications in Mississippi and the nation.

MS-DUR Evidence-Based DUR Initiative

The aim of this initiative is to advance the discipline of drug utilization review (DUR) for federal, state, and commercial entities by developing and championing best practices in DUR.

The Mississippi Evidence-Based DUR Initiative (MS-DUR) performs the retrospective drug utilization review (DUR) for the Mississippi Division of Medicaid. MS-DUR supports the function of the DUR Board by performing in-depth analyses using pharmacy and medical claims data to encourage evidence-based, appropriate use of medications in the Mississippi Medicaid population. MS-DUR reviews claims data and monitors FDA-based safety information to ensure quality care is delivered to Medicaid beneficiaries. Based on activities of the DUR Board and claims reviews, MS-DUR provides educational outreach to health care practitioners on drug therapy to improve prescribing and dispensing practices for Mississippi Division or Medicaid beneficiaries.

The rDUR process typically consists of evaluating administrative claims data for:

  • Over/underutilization of drugs
  • Drug-drug contraindications
  • Drug-condition contraindications
  • Drug-age contraindications
  • Duplicate therapy
  • Duration of therapy
  • Clinical appropriateness

The MS-DUR is intended to be an information-sharing and education-focused entity, not a punitive program. MS-DUR provides information for healthcare practitioners serving Mississippi Medicaid beneficiaries to assist with the continued evaluation and management of the patient's medication requirements. The MS-DUR website has resources for providers, including the "Mississippi Medicaid Pharmacy Update" newsletters and special initiatives developed to assist providers in selecting therapy, like the "Medicaid Cough and Cold Quick List."

Eric L. Pittman, PharmD
Clinical Director
Evidence-Based DUR Initiative
Research Assistant Professor
Center for Pharmaceutical Marketing and Management
The University of Mississippi
Faser Hall 133
Post Office Box 1848
University, Mississippi 38677-1848
Office: 662-915-5948
Email: epittman@olemiss.edu

Research Resources

The Center for Pharmaceutical Marketing and Management’s (CPMM’s) goal is to support the development, execution, and dissemination of research in our designated research program areas. As part of this goal, the CPMM strives to develop and maintain a strong research infrastructure that will support graduate and faculty research in the CPMM’s three research program areas.

Personal computers are the primary laboratory equipment in this field of research. As such, the CPMM works closely with the Department of Pharmacy Administration to purchase computers such that every faculty and graduate student is provided with adequate equipment to conduct research in our field.

The CPMM, through grants, contracts, and other funding sources, provides a large number of graduate research assistantships for the MS and PhD students in the Department of Pharmacy Administration. In addition to providing critical staffing for research projects, these assistantships provide experiential learning opportunities for the students and are considered to be an essential part of the overall graduate education program.

To ensure the privacy and confidentiality of data containing personal health information (PHI) that are used in our research projects, the CPMM maintains a separate computer center with controlled access within the CPMM offices. Mr. Raul Galeano is responsible for managing the PHI Computer Center and serves as data custodian for all data use agreements (DUAs) involving PHI data.

The PHI Computer Center contains a stand-alone, non-networked computer for initial processing and ID encryption of newly acquired PHI data files. The research production files produced on the stand-alone computer are then loaded on one of several restricted-access analytical servers for use by authorized research team members. The PHI Computer Center meets the highest security requirements for working with PHI data and allows research teams to acquire DUAs for PHI data from virtually any source.

The CPMM provides support of up to $3,000 for primary data collection related to thesis and dissertation projects conducted by graduate students in the Department of Pharmacy Administration. Students are required to work with their thesis/dissertation director to first attempt to acquire external funding for the project. If adequate funding cannot be obtained from external sources, a student may request support from the CPMM with the approval of the faculty chairing the student’s committee.

The CPMM recognizes that for society to realize the real value of research, results must be effectively disseminated to the most appropriate audiences. Whenever possible, CPMM provides support for the dissemination of results from research projects related to the three CPMM program areas. This support includes publication charges when journals have page charges and travel for presentations at professional and scientific meetings. The goal is to be sure faculty and graduate students who are presenting authors for podium or poster presentations will always be able to attend the meetings without having to spend their own personal funds.

A few examples of participation and presentation at conferences include The Academy of Managed Health Care Pharmacy Annual Meetings, the Pharmacy Quality Alliance Annual Meetings, the American Drug Utilization Review Society Annual Meetings, and the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR) Annual meetings.

Meet the Center

John Bentley

John Bentley

  • Professor of Pharmacy Administration and Marketing and Research Professor in the Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Director of the Center for Pharmaceutical Marketing and Management Pharmacy Administration
Nancy Jones

Nancy Jones

  • Project Coordinator
Eric Pittman

Eric Pittman

  • Research Assistant Professor and Clinical Director and Assistant Professor of Pharmacy Administration
Sujith Ramachandran

Sujith Ramachandran

  • Associate Professor of Pharmacy Administration, Research Associate Professor in the Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Assistant Director of the Center for Pharmaceutical Marketing and Management
Kaustuv Bhattacharya

Kaustuv Bhattacharya

  • Research Assistant Professor Center for Pharmaceutical Marketing and Management in the Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Assistant Professor of Pharmacy Administration
David Lang

David Lang

  • Systems Analyst II

Looking for our repository?

All of our publications, research, and MS-DUR initiative can be found on the University of Mississippi's repository website, eGrove!

Check Out eGrove