Editor’s note: Andrew Aprill is founder of BioVid, a Princeton, N.J.,research firm. Matt Campion is executive vice president, market research business, at Epocrates, a San Mateo, Calif., software firm.

Remember that big decision you made last week and the physician-based market research findings that influenced your decision-making? Did you ever stop to wonder who answered your survey questions and if they provided thoughtful responses? As pharmaceutical market research continues its rapid migration to online surveys, data quality is increasingly being questioned by end users. We applaud this scrutiny and offer the following systematic approach to maximizing the quality of physician-based survey data.

Step 1: Assess panel quality and examine the physician authentication process.

While there are many ways to recruit physicians to participate in online surveys, one popular method is to recruit from established physician panels. Panels are attractive because they can provide fast, reliable and cost-effective access to physicians that are ready and willing to participate in online surveys.

Before they are ready to serve you, panel providers have to construct their panel by recruiting members. Common recruitment methods include mail, fax-blasting and telephone. Frequently, physicians recruited via these methods are offered some type of sign-up incentive. Sometimes panels are created from preexisting networks of physicians where membership offers benefits beyond the opportunity to participate in surveys. Whatever the panel construction approach, the key is that the panel provider has established a relationship with panel members that results in robust and reliable response rates. Methods to verify that the person joining a panel is indeed a physician and not a clever layperson registering as a physician in order to earn lucrative honoraria vary widely across panel providers. Survey stakeholders shou...