ESOMAR Questions

1. What experience does your company have with providing online samples for market research?
2. Please describe and explain the types of source(s) for the online sample that you provide (are these databases, actively managed panels, direct marketing lists, web intercept sampling, river sampling or other)?
3. What do you consider to be the primary advantage of your sample over other sample sources in the marketplace?
4. If the sample source is a panel or database, is the panel or database used solely for market research? If not, please explain.
5. How do you source groups that may be hard-to-reach on the internet?
6. What are people told when they are recruited?
7. If the sample comes from a panel, what is your annual panel turnover/attrition/retention rate and how is it calculated?
8. Please describe the opt-in process.
9. Do you have a confirmation of identity procedure? Do you have procedures to detect fraudulent respondents at the time of registration with the panel? If so, please describe.
10. What profile data is kept on panel members? For how many members is this data collected and how often is this data updated?
11. What is the size and/or the capacity of the panel, based on active panel members on a given date? Can you provide an overview of active panelists by type of source?
12. Please describe your sampling process including your exclusion procedures if applicable. Can samples be deployed as batches/replicates, by time zones, geography, etc? If so, how is this controlled?
13. Explain how people are invited to take part in a survey. What does a typical invitation look like?
14. Please describe the nature of your incentive system(s). How does this vary by length of interview, respondent characteristics, or other factors you may consider?
15. How often are individual members contacted for online surveys within a given time period? Do you keep data on panelist participation history and are limits placed on the frequency that members are contacted and asked to participate in a survey?
16. Is there a privacy policy in place? If so, what does it state? Is the panel compliant with all regional, national and local laws with respect to privacy, data protection and children e.g. EU Safe Harbor, and COPPA in the US? What other research industry standards do you comply with e.g. ICC/ESOMAR International Code on Market and Social Research, CASRO guidelines etc.?
17. What data protection/security measures do you have in place?
18. Do you apply a quality management system?
19. Do you conduct online surveys with children and young people?
20. Do you supplement your samples with samples from other providers? How do you select these partners? Is it your policy to notify a client in advance when using a third party provider? Do you de-duplicate the sample when using multiple sample providers?
21. Do you have a policy regarding multi-panel membership? What efforts do you undertake to ensure that survey results are unbiased given that some individuals belong to multiple panels?
22. What are likely survey start rates, drop-out and participation rates in connection with a provided sample? How are these computed?
23. Do you maintain individual level data such as recent participation history, date of entry, source, etc., on your panelists? Are you able to supply your client with a per job analysis of such individual level data?
24. Do you use data quality analysis and validation techniques to identify inattentive and fraudulent respondents?
25. Do you measure respondent satisfaction?
26. What information do you provide to debrief your client after the project has finished?

COMPANY PROFILE

1. MDLinx has offered targeted programs for the pharmaceutical industry since 1999. Our custom newsletter product keeps physicians engaged and profiled in our panel. MDLinx works with all of the world's top 20 largest pharmaceutical companies to provide unparalleled online access to sought-after target groups for market research opportunities in the healthcare industry. We exclusively partner with market research companies to provide healthcare panel access.

SAMPLE SOURCE

2. MDLinx uses the following channels for panel recruitment:

   • Professional conferences
   • Direct Mail via AMA verified USMD database
   • Online recruitment targeted at AMA verified USMDs
   • Online Recruitment via our 24 specialty portals
   
   All of our panel members are managed online through a patented, internal, proprietary system.

3. Age of service - 10 years
   Triple Verification of US Physicians
   Largest Specialist US Physician Panel, Largest Japanese Physician Panel
   Physicians engaged by membership email newsletter everyday
   MRA / PRC Expert Certified customer service team
   Patented Technology to eliminate Duplicates, Fraud, and Abuse
   Pre-Identification by 747 sub-specialties
   As a trusted resource for 10 years our respondents/members know their opinions are valued
   MDLinx has a rich offering of physicians and other professionals in the healthcare industry that are both dependable and quick to respond.
   



4. Yes, MDLinx panel members are used exclusively for online market research.

5. Physicians/healthcare professionals are the most difficult group to reach online and even more difficult are the specialists. This is an area where MDLinx excels and focuses its recruitment efforts. All recruited physicians are verified prior to starting an online market research study. Our primary sources are via our proprietary 24 Professional healthcare specialty portals.

6. Members are given free subscriptions to online journal article newsletters related to their specialty and subspecialty. Members are processed through verification and are then invited to participate in market research opportunities for honoraria (monetary incentives) based on the length of interview and area of expertise.

PANEL RECRUITMENT

7. MDLinx evaluates the email addresses of its panel members daily. We have a 7% attrition rate per year due to bad email addresses and opt-outs, which are removed in real time to ensure the best feasibility predictions.

8. Opt-in to market research is primarily through email newsletter. After becoming a member and opting in for newsletters, new members are verified then sent a confirmation of membership. Only then are verified physicians given opportunity to participate in Market Research.

9. MDLinx uses a three step verification process before, during, and after a market research study. Initially we use the DEA, NPI, or Medical Education number to review a physician's registration information. In Japan we use the DCF number as approved by their government. We have identified and verified 96% of the physicians on our panel. Only verified physicians are invited with a unique encrypted key to participate that excludes duplicates in the panel. The respondent provides information for the honoraria once thay have completed the survey. The information from initial verification and final confirmation must match perfectly otherwise the staff receives a fraud alert. All clients are informed if fraudulent responders are found and they are replaced at no cost to the client. Our current fraud rate is .12% or 1 in 800 respondents. All projects go through Quality Assurance and the physician sample is certified. At the close of each survey campaign, several cross checks (email address, name, mailing address, length of interview participation time) are verified. Those respondents who are evaluated to be fraudulent are removed from the database with a strict one strike policy.

10. Basic Information for Verification:

    • Name (first, last)
    • Email address
    • Mailing address
    • Medical specialty
    • Medical subspecialty
    • ME/DEA number
    • Gender
    • Age
    
    Secondary Profiles include extended data metrics such as:
    • Work Setting (Private Practice, Hospital (teaching/non-teaching), Lab, Pharmacy)
    • Years in practice
    • Average number of patients seen per day
    • Average ## of prescriptions written per day
    
    

    Profile Information	Data Appending Field Name
    First Name	FNAME
    Last Name	LNAME
    Address	ADDR1
    City	CITY
    State	STATE_CD
    Zip	ZIP
    Gender	GENDER
    DOB	DOB
    DEA	DEA
    Specialty	SPEC
    Subspecialty	747 multiple selects possible
    Profession	PROFESSION
    Medical School*	MED_SCHOOL
    Year of Graduation*	GRADYEAR
    Medical Office / Practice Name*	PHYSICIAN_OFFICE
    Office Postal Code*	OFFICE_ZIP
    State Licensed*	STATE_LICENSED_CD
    Responsibilities: work directly with patients	PAT_IND
    Responsibilities: educate students	EDU_STU_IND
    Responsibilities: head of a department	HEAD_DEPT_IND
    Responsibilities: make decisions about purchases	DECISION_IND
    Responsibilities: speak at conferences	SPEAK_IND
    Responsibilities: educate residents*	EDU_RES_IND
    Responsibilities: board certified*	BOARD_CERT_IND
    Responsibilities: head of a practice*	HEAD_PRAC_IND
    Work for Private Practice	WORK_PRIVATE_IND
    Work for Hospital (teaching or AMC)	WORK_AMC_IND
    Work for Hospital (non-teaching)	WORK_HOSP_IND
    Work for Insurance Co / HMO	WORK_HMO_IND
    Work for Medical School	WORK_MS_IND
    Work for Pharmacy	WORK_PHARM_IND
    Work for Lab	WORK_LAB_IND
    Work for Other	WORK_OTHER_IND
    Year started to practice medicine*	YEARS_PRACTICE
    Avg number of patients seen per day*	AVG_PATS
    Number of colleagues at work*	AVG_WORKERS
    Avg ## of prescriptions written per day*	AVG_RX
    Phone	PHONE
    Fax	FAX

    
    *Only for profession: Physicians
    
    Profile data is collected for all members. MDLinx members can update their data profiles at anytime, collection for secondary data metrics is not mandatory.

11. As of October 1, 2008 we have 190,000 healthcare professionals active in our USA database. The specialty breakout of our physician panel versus the universe as reported by the AMA in 2008:
    
    

    % total of US Specialist Universe	SPECIALTY	% total of US Specialist Universe	SPECIALTY
    41%	Rheumatology	5%	Pediatrics
    37%	Hematology and Oncology	5%	Ophthalmology
    35%	Endocrinology	4%	Surgery
    18%	Infectious Disease	4%	Anesthesiology
    18%	Nephrology	4%	Internal Medicine
    14%	Allergy and Immunology	4%	Emergency Medicine
    13%	Dermatology	3%	Obstetrics and Gynecology
    13%	Cardiology	3%	Family Practice
    11%	Neurology	3%	Orthopedics
    10%	Urology	2%	Radiology
    9%	Pulmonology	2%	Pathology
    7%	Gastroenterology	6%	Otolaryngology
    6%	Psychiatry

PANEL AND SAMPLE MANAGEMENT

12. Sample is pulled based upon the parameters in the clients insertion order (specialty, subspecialty, geography, etc…). During survey launch, the MDLinx Invite system allows the Project Manager to access any part of the sample population and send invitations to each targeted group either randomly or as required by the project. The MDLinx Invite system has the capacity to perform a "soft" or partial launch in the event that the client would like to see data and make adjustments to the survey based on early results. Future invitations can be issued in batches without duplication.

13. MDLinx panel members are invited to participate through an email invitation (see example):

    
    

    

    The default language always includes Length of Interview , honorarium amount, survey link and deadline. Wording is included that there are qualifiers that might lead to disqualification and subsequent termination from the survey. Additional language can be added to the text if special instructions are necessary for more complex surveys. Reminders are also sent to those panel members who have not yet accessed the survey.

14. Participating MDLinx members are awarded only monetary incentives for successfully completing the survey. The incentive varies between two to three dollars per minute based upon specialty and length of survey.
    Other conditions exist that may drive up the incentive include a low incidence rate or the urgency to complete a study. Our honoraria are issued by check and are audited prior to distribution. Also, our company's financials are audited every year by an external third party.

15. We have been keeping data on physician behavior and participation for the past 2 years and it allows us to better determine who will participate in a survey. Physicians are limited to one completed survey every 30 days and a maximum of 12 surveys per year to eliminate professional survey takers from the panel. Physicians are are also timed out prior to hitting the federal IRS 1099 tipping point of $600.

16. MDLinx considers the privacy of its users to be of utmost importance and works to protect it. MDLinx uses personal user information for internal purposes only. We will not sell or share this information with outsiders. For comprehensive information about the steps that MDLinx takes to respect this privacy please read our Privacy Policy.

    Related to Market Research Studies:
    Users of MDLinx may elect to participate in market research surveys that the company runs from time to time. These studies are intended to give specific feedback to third parties. This feedback while shared in the format it was collected will not include the personally identifiable information used to pay honoraria for your time.

    MDLinx is compliant with ICC/ESOMAR International Code of Marketing and Social Research Practice (International code of conduct standard in Marketing Research), as well CASRO and MRA guidelines. MDLinx's privacy policy is compliant with all federal and state laws in the United States of America.

17. All data from our system are stored in a firewalled, password protected Oracle database on a private network. Routine backups are preformed, encrypted, copied to an offsite server farm and written to tape before being transported to a secure offsite location to facilitate disaster recover. All information released needs to be cleared by our Chief Privacy Officer.

18. Quality is a continuum that begins with recruitment/verification, is protected during the survey with our patented system that eliminates duplicates, fraud, and abuse and ends with a certified sample. All clients are informed if fraudulent responders are found and they are replaced at no cost to the client. Our current fraud rate is .12% or 1 in 800 respondents. All projects go through Quality Assurance and the physician sample is certified for all clients.

19. No, we do not.

PARTNERSHIPS AND MULTIPLE PANEL MEMBERSHIP

20. MDLinx uses its own panel exclusively for the studies in the United States or Japan and does not supplement it with sample from other providers. Because we 100% own the sample from these countries we have already de-duped the panel and verified the physicians. Our company only recruits respondents that are members of MDLinx.
    We do supplement our non-USA and non-Japan sample via other providers for international studies. For partnered studies, MDLinx does give advance notification, at the quote stage, to clients when using a third party provider. Third party providers are vetted and are members of ESOMAR and other respected international organizations.

21. MDLinx is the largest panel of specialists in the USA and the largest healthcare panel in Japan. With our 100% ownership we verify and dedup the panel. The limit of no more than 1 completed survey every 30 days eliminates professional survey takers across the board. Ideally MDLinx would be the only provider of physician studies however, we will work with clients to dedup surveys that may be fielded with more than one panel.

DATA QUALITY AND VALIDATION

22. Start rate and participation (or response) rate are metrics that we track for each study and differ according to specialty, as well as the complexity of the study. In order to assure then highest response rate, we can target sample based on sub-specialty to get as close to the correct target group as possible. Dropout rate would be calculated by the company hosting the study.

23. MDLinx collects very detailed behavioral and participation information about an individual then applies panel rules to that information. We also use the participation information to drive predictions of future interest in studies for feasibility. The technology used for this predictability is within our feasibility calculator which is a patented piece of technology.

24. The hosting company that is running the survey and collecting data typically perform the data quality analysis. MDLinx limits our involvement to providing verified physicians and monitoring for duplicates, fraud, and abuse throughout the survey process. We do however perform a validation check at the conclusion of each project, confirming all respondents are verified and acceptable. Addiaiotnaly we work with our clients as project data is reviewed and remove speeders and straight liners. These respondents are removed from the any Market Research participation; we have a one strike policy.

25. MDLinx has a hotline set up for physicians to call with their survey number and get immediate assistance as well as an email address that goes to our dedicated customer service team to assist members.

26. MDLinx provides the number of starts, number of screenouts, number of overquotas, number of completes, average length of interview, and certifies the sample is made up of unique qualified individuals who have been triple verified for the highest quality.