Startling data found by SK&A audit revels that more than half of healthcare-marketing data used by healthcare advertising agencies, medical device companies and 16 of the top-50 pharmaceutical companies is incorrect.

Irvine, CA -- (SBWire) -- 12/11/2009 -- SK&A Information Services, a leading provider of healthcare information solutions and research, today announced the results of its year-long audit that shows nearly 60% of the 3.8 million healthcare contact records it evaluated on behalf of its clients were inaccurate when matched against SK&A’s industry-leading databases of U.S. healthcare sites, practitioners and professionals.

The 2009 audit covered 297 data cleansing and resolution projects for 91 U.S. companies, including healthcare advertising agencies, medical device companies, medical equipment distributors, healthcare IT firms and 16 of the top-50 pharmaceutical companies.

“The results of SK&A’s 12-month audit are direct proof companies wishing to build their businesses in the U.S. healthcare market must be committed to ongoing data quality strategy to help ensure the success of their sales and marketing objectives,” said Dave Escalante, President and CEO of SK&A. “High-profile companies simply cannot afford to let data quality take a back seat, because, over time, inaccurate data will result in a decline in brand loyalty, inefficient execution of sales and marketing campaigns, as well as the real potential of lost business opportunities.”

The findings revealed the primary reason healthcare contact data was erroneous was because of incorrect mailing addresses, which represented 32.4% of the records that SK&A processed and attempted to resolve. The percentage of mailing address error is more than six times the U.S. Postal Service’s estimate that 5% of all mail is undeliverable as addressed. Other leading reasons for error in the audited data were physicians and professionals who were deceased, moved or retired (15.6%) and telephone numbers that were incorrect or disconnected (10.2%).

Problems associated with inaccurate healthcare contact data include money wasted on postage, misdirected sales calls, inefficient telemarketing, wasteful and ineffective marketing with customers and prospects, and damaged corporate and brand reputation. It is estimated bad data costs U.S. companies more than $600 billion each year, according to the Data Warehousing Institute.

The healthcare data audit was conducted through SK&A’s DMR Source Verified Service, a data cleansing and contact resolution service that uses sophisticated match-identification technology and research-based manual resolution to identify and fix data errors. After matching records to SK&A’s accurate databases of Office-Based Physicians, Hospitals, Pharmacies, Nursing Homes, and nearly 10-year-old “inactive” provider and professional dataset, SK&A performs telephone and Internet research, at the client’s request, to resolve the most problematic contact records. All DMR Source Verified Service agreements are delivered through SK&A’s Irvine, California-based Research Center, where more than 6,000 telephone calls are made each business day to healthcare sites in the U.S.

Summary of SK&A’s 2009 Audit of Healthcare Contact Data

Inaccurate Data 59.8%
Accurate Data 40.2%
Total 100%

Top 3 Reasons for Inaccurate Data
Bad Addresses 32.4%
Deceased, Moved or Retired Professionals 15.6%
Bad Telephone Numbers 10.2%

About SK&A Information Services, Inc.
Celebrating its 27th anniversary, SK&A researches and maintains contact and profiling information for over two million healthcare practitioners, including 800,000-plus prescribers. SK&A offers the only database of 100% telephone-verified email addresses. SK&A’s customers include many of America’s most recognized healthcare and pharmaceutical institutions. Please visit http://www.skainfo.com for more information or http://www.skalivecounts.com for counts and ordering.