When Published Scientific Evidence Is Ready — But MLR Review Is Not
How AI Can Accelerate MLR Approval of Medical Reprints
Physicians Value Medical Reprints
Publication is an important milestone for clinical evidence — but it is not the finish line.
Medical reprints help healthcare professionals stay current on new clinical findings, treatment options, safety information, and evolving approaches to patient care. COMPAS reports that 89% of physicians consider medical reprints a valuable resource for staying up to date on medical developments and treatments.
Physicians cannot benefit from evidence they do not see, and under pressing time constraints they do not necessarily search for it. Many rely on the service provided by pharma to deliver these as ePrints directly to them, with click-through rates demonstrating how valuable they find this. Before a life sciences company can distribute a journal article or ePrint for proactive use, it must pass Medical, Legal, and Regulatory review.
Why ePrints Can Be Delayed in MLR Review
MLR review is essential to ensure that an article used in a promotional campaign is consistent with the product's approved labeling and that there is no information that is misleading, overstated, conflicting, or unsubstantiated. The challenge is that this analysis is often performed manually, requiring reviewers to move between the article, product labeling, references, and previously approved claims.
As a result, an ePrint article may remain unavailable for promotional distribution, as it can take weeks and even months for an article to be approved. And every additional review cycle carries a cost. While an ePrint remains in review, healthcare professionals may miss timely access to relevant evidence, competitors may introduce new findings, and market perceptions may continue to evolve. The article does not lose its scientific validity, but its ability to enhance timely clinical understanding, physician engagement, and commercial differentiation can diminish as distribution is delayed. The opportunity is to automate the repetitive work that occurs before experts apply their professional judgment.
Is your ePrint review process a growing liability? Teams here typically see ePrints stall 3–6 weeks and report meaningful lost value with every delay.
Curious how severe your own bottleneck is? Take our free, anonymous ePrint Bottleneck Assessment to see how much time and value your current ePrint review process may be costing you.