Truth On Call

Truth On Call FAQs

Physician FAQs

What is the signup process like for physicians?

Who developed Truth On Call?

Truth On Call was developed by a healthcare strategy consulting firm, Capella Advisors. You can listen to an interview with a physician member of Truth On Call and the founder, Dr. Rosina Samadani, on Public Radio.

How do I earn money via Truth On Call?

Sign up and tell us a little about yourself and the brands, if any, that you prefer. Set the limit to the number of questions you receive every month, from as few as 1 to as many as 30. When you receive a question, take a minute or less to provide a response via text message and receive $10 for every response you provide.

Will my responses by anonymous?

Your responses will only be available in aggregate with other physicians’ responses. Your individual response and identity will never be made available.

How do I get paid?

Every time you receive a question you have the option to ignore it or answer it. If you choose to answer it within 24 hours of receiving the question you will earn $10. If there is a follow up question you have the option to ignore it or another 24 hours to answer it. You will earn an additional $10 for answering that follow up question. When you have earned $100, or answered 10 questions, Truth On Call will mail a check to the address listed for your name with the National Provider Information (NPI) registry or your designated charity. We will only send checks to the address on the registry to ensure that physicians only are participating in Truth On Call.

Is it safe to provide my NPI number?

Yes. Your NPI number is a publicly available number. The public can look up NPI numbers at the government based website for the NPI registry.

Why must I provide my NPI number?

We ask for your NPI number because we only send honorariums to an address registered with NPI, thereby ensuring that the name you provide is a registered physician.

How come you don’t have my NPI number, and can I still sign up?

If your NPI number was issued to you in the last 2-6 weeks the NPI database may not have made it available to us yet. You will see your NPI number listed in the public NPI registry but they have not yet given us access to their records for our use. You can still sign up and we will update your record when the NPI database is updated. Just contact us at support@truthoncall.com.

Will I be charged for receiving or sending texts to Truth on Call?

Your normal text messaging rates will apply according to your carrier’s plan. Often this is $.05 per message you send and receive. Please check with your carrier.

Who will be sending me questions?

Questions are posed by healthcare device or drug manufacturers, the media, financial companies, and government agencies. See examples of questions at: http://www.truthoncall.com/examples.

What types of questions will I be sent?

You will be sent questions that are appropriate to your specialty and demographic, e.g., part of the country you live in and what brands you prefer. These questions are posed by healthcare device or drug manufacturers, the media, financial companies, and government agencies, and are screened by Truth On Call. For example, if you are an ob/gyn you may be asked: What percentage of your patients who take oral contraceptives have mentioned the Loestrin 24 TV ad in the last week? Respond with a percentage, e.g., 20%.

See other examples of questions at: http://www.truthoncall.com/examples

How long do I have to answer a question?

You have 24 hours to provide a response. If you do not respond within this time, you don’t have to do anything. Just wait for the next question.

Do I need to answer every question?

No. If you do not have time or are not interested in a question, you do not need to answer a question. You can simply ignore the text message.

Will Truth On Call ever send me advertising via my cell phone or e-mail address?

No. Truth On Call is not an advertising platform and we will never provide your information to advertisers.

How do I limit the number of questions I can receive every month?

You can limit the maximum number of questions you receive every month from 1 to 30 in your account by signing in at the Truth On Call home page, www.truthoncall.com.

How do I change the address where my Truth On Call checks are sent?

You need to contact the National Provider Information Registry (NPI) to change your address with them. Truth On Call only sends checks to the address listed for you in the NPI registry or to the charity of your choice.

How do I have my Truth On Call checks sent to charity?

You can designate the charity you wish to have your Truth On call checks sent to by signing in to your account at the Truth On Call home page, www.truthoncall.com. We will inform you every time we send a check to the charity of your choice via e-mail and at the address that is listed for you with the National Provider Information (NPI) registry.

Why do you only list a select group of charities?

We have selected charities that we know are of interest to physicians and are well established. We would love to learn about other charities of interest to you. Please send us an e-mail at support@truthoncall.com.

Can non-physicians sign up for Truth On Call?

At this time Truth On Call is for physicians only.

How do I tell my physician colleagues about Truth On Call?

You can tell your physician colleagues to visit our website, www.truthoncall.com.

Can I temporarily put on hold messages received from Truth On Call?

Yes. If you would not like to receive any messages for a short period of time, text HOLD to ONCALL (662255) on your cell phone. Text RESUME to ONCALL to resume receiving questions. If we have not heard from you after one month we will send you a text message asking if you would like to be taken off hold. Not answering will keep you on hold. You can also sign in to your account at www.truthoncall.com and specify the time period during which you would like to be on hold.

How do I stop receiving message from Truth On Call?

If you would like to stop participating in Truth On Call, you may do so at any time. Text STOP to ONCALL (662255) to cancel your account. The honorariums you have accumulated will be sent to you or the charity of your choice. Your account will remain with us should you choose to reactivate it at any time.

How do I quit Truth On Call?

Industry FAQs

How are physicians verified?

Truth On Call physicians can only receive checks at the address that is listed for them in the National Provider Information (NPI) Registry, to ensure they are the physician they say they are. In addition, upon signup physicians are sent a welcome pack at the physical address in the NPI registry. For individuals who select to have their checks sent to charity, the physician at the address provided by the NPI is notified of the donation via snail mail.

Is this a scientific poll?

A scientific poll covers an appropriate range of regions and specialties and has the appropriate context, e.g., timing, and question structure. Truth On Call is a platform for scientific polls. Our database covers every specialty in the AMA taxonomy. Our physicians are verified by the NPI registry. Questions can be asked of Truth On Call physicians within minutes of an event occurring, which may be appropriate and important context. The number of physicians you will want to include depends on your specific needs. We can help you assess statistical significance for the specialties you are interested in, or if you would like to conduct a poll of all specialties.

Why does Truth On Call ask questions via cell phone?

Historically, physicians have been asked questions via in-person or phone interviews, or via market research conducted by fax or e-mail/internet based surveys. The fastest responses are received via internet surveys. Response rates to internet surveys are currently anywhere from 2-20%, with the majority of responses coming in within 3 days. Text based questioning has a much higher and faster response rate. Often the targeted group responds within an hour of receiving a question.

Are there limitations to the questions I can ask?

Text based messaging is limited to two, or at most three, questions. Questions are limited to 160 characters, including spaces. Questions must be multiple response or simple response, e.g., a percentage. Logical branching can be implemented, e.g., a yes response to the first question results in a follow-on question. Given the key demographics, and in most cases even brand preferences, are known about the physicians being queried, a reasonably rich data set of responses is obtained.

All questions will be screened by Truth On Call for appropriate content and format.

What kinds of situations are appropriate for Truth On Call?

Truth On Call is appropriate when a critical piece of data is needed very quickly. It is appropriate when manufacturers, media and financial firms need to get input from many physicians within hours. For example, a major competitor has launched a new campaign and you would like to understand the impact and initial response, a drug has been recalled in your therapeutic area and you need to understand the implication for the class and in particular your drug, you have a senior management meeting and need a few additional facts to back up a decision to start or pull a key program, you have just launched a new campaign and would like to assess the impact on a weekly basis, or you are making a business development decision and need a critical piece of information before going ahead with the deal.

See detailed industry examples at www.truthoncall.com/examples or contact us at support@truthoncall.com or 212-247-0895 for additional thoughts and with questions.

What format will response data be in?

Response data will be in Microsoft Excel format and include state, physician specialty and brand preference if appropriate.

How quickly will I receive answers?

Once you submit your question or contact us via e-mail or phone, we endeavor to launch your question or questions to physicians within an hour. You will receive answers within 24 hours at the most of the final formulation of your question.

Will you have the physician specialty I’m interested in?

Yes. We have every physician specialty listed in the AMA taxonomy represented in our database.

Can I target only physicians who prefer, or do not prefer, my brand?

Yes. We have queried physicians for their brand preferences for the top brands. If your brand is not listed we will work with you to identify these physicians.

Can I send you my own list of physicians to query?

Yes, provided you have permission to query these physicians.

How do you keep your physician data current?

We do a number of things to keep our physician information updated, including asking our physician members to update their account once a year.

How can I reduce the cost of querying physicians via Truth On Call?

We have volume discounts for a minimum of 4 questions per month, targeting 25 physicians only with each question. Please contact us at support@truthoncall.com or 212-247-0895 with questions.