Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Please see below for answers to frequently asked questions.

Questions about study method

  • A. The method of questioning is as shown below. (Show the conditions for which patients were seen)
    "Q. Regarding each of the conditions seen, please indicate how many patients you have seen in the past month (the actual number of patients on a patient record basis)."
  • A. The method of questioning is as shown below. (For conditions with at least one patient seen)
    Q."To how many patients have you personally prescribed drug therapy for that condition?"
  • A. For conditions that are seasonal such as hay fever and infectious diseases, we ask the respondents to give responses for the past year.
    Conditions asked about in the past year are indicated with notations such as ‘in the past year’ after the condition name.
  • A. In order to reduce the burden on respondents as much as possible, we first have them cite the conditions for which they are seeing patients, and then we have them provide the number of patients they’re seeing for those conditions.
    The number of conditions for which we actually received answers was an average of about 35 conditions per physician.
    Although there was a tendency for the number of conditions cited to be higher among HP internists and other doctors, the number of conditions provided was generally 40 or lower.
  • A. Each year roughly 40% of the physicians who responded in the previous year are replaced by other physicians.
    In the following year, there is a further reduction of repeat respondents by 15%. This same trend is seen every year.

Questions about data reading

  • A. The number of patients may be higher due to some patients being seen at more than one facility.
    PatientsMap performs extrapolations based on the number of patients seen on a patient record basis. Therefore, since a patient will be counted more than once if they are seeing more than one physician, the extrapolated number of patients may be higher than the actual number of patients.
    With regard to the conditions for which patients are likely to be seen by more than one physician, it may be helpful to only look at the number of patients in the specialty that is thought to primarily see patients with these conditions in order to get a closer approximation of the actual number of patients.
  • A. The dividing line for classification of HP/GP is 100 beds.
    HP is for respondents who practice in a facility with 100 or more beds, and GP is for those who practice in a facility with fewer than 100 beds.
  • A. As there can be patient turnover (new patients, interrupted visits/transfers, deaths, etc.) within a period of time for most diseases, we do not recommend multiplying the one-month number by 12.
    If you would like to estimate the annual number of patients, you can obtain the necessary numbers as factors for patient turnover by conducting an additional survey.
    It is recognized that if the disease is such that patients continue to visit the hospital or be prescribed drugs once a month or on a regular basis, the estimated one-month number calculated by PatientsMap will be close to the 12-month number.
    Also, for diseases that are affected by seasonality, we ask about the number of patients per year rather than per month.

Questions about contracts

  • A. There are two types available: “Basic Contract” and “Raw Data Contract.”
    The “Basic Contract” is a contract that allows you to view aggregate charts, extrapolations, and summaries by specialty on the website. The deliverables will be the rights to access the website. >> Basic Contract Demo Site
    The “Raw Data Contract” is a contract that allows response data from all samples (physician respondents) to be purchased on a per-condition basis. The deliverables will be Microsoft Excel spreadsheets.
    The “Raw Data Contract” is only available if you have already subscribed to the “Basic Contract” for the product in question.
  • A. The data that will be delivered is listed below. (The contents may vary depending on the product.)
    ・No. of patients seen and no. of patients prescribed drug therapy for the subscribed conditions
    ・No. of physicians seeing patients for all conditions in the areas where the subscribed conditions are included
    ・Conditions for which new drugs are desired
    ・Sales rep activity information
    ・Demographics
    ・Magnification factor
  • A. As prices vary with the number of conditions, please contact us for more details.
    >> patientsmap@ssri.com
  • A. Yes. We also offer analysis separately.
    Please contact us to get an estimate.
    >> patientsmap@ssri.com
For any inquiries or purchase, please contact us at:
patientsmap@ssri.com