An Empirical Investigation into Physician Preferences in Drug Prescription: An Integrated Methodology of AHP and QFD

Abstract

<p class="Default">In order to sustain in a competitive market like pharmaceutical in Bangladesh, it is important to get an insight into physicians’ preferences in prescribing the drugs. The aim of this work is to investigate and address the physician requirements through an integrated methodology of Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Quality Function Deployment (QFD). In this research, an expert panel has been interviewed to recognize the criteria affecting physicians’ decisions. The results from AHP derived through Expert Choice software demonstrate that from the viewpoint of physicians, out of the five criteria, quality of product offering is ranked highest in prescribing the drugs followed by the reputation of the company, relationship enjoyed with the company, etc. As for the technical aspects, derived from the relationship matrix of AHP and QFD, out of the sixteen, brand image is ranked first followed by the quality of raw and packaging materials, skilled production personnel etc. The contribution of this research is expected to enable the managers in the pharmaceutical companies to recognize the factors that influence physicians in prescribing drugs for the patients and help them find out challenging items with preeminent alternatives. Few suggestions for future research are also put forward. <strong></strong></p>