Source: Texas Beef Council
Beef has a place in a heart-healthy diet, and the Texas Beef Council (TBC) is getting the latest research to physicians through the checkoff-funded MD Outreach Program. The unique program follows a pharmaceutical sales model and reaches physicians in a manner in which they are familiar with receiving clinical information.
In 2016, TBC hired two award-winning pharmaceutical sales reps, one in Dallas and one in Houston, with experience in cardiac and/or nutrition and health. The reps visit physicians seeing a minimum of 300 high cholesterol patients per month. Each office visit varies in scope, but the goal of delivering science-based information and discussing it with the physician one-on-one remains the same.
Today, there are two reps in Dallas and two reps in Houston working to educate MDs on behalf of Texas cattlemen and women.
“We’ve got great research on beef’s place in a heart-healthy diet,” said Hawley Poinsett, TBC senior manager of nutrition. “We’ve got a great story to tell.” 
Initial research was conducted to determine why and in what instances doctors were limiting their patients’ beef intake. Additional research examined what type of messaging and delivery would most resonate with physicians. Realizing doctors have limited time with each patient, TBC developed a “How to Lower Your Cholesterol” patient brochure for doctors to distribute to their patients. The brochure, paired with the messaging delivered by the reps, work together to bring the research to both the doctor and the patients to support them eating more beef in their new heart-healthy lifestyles.
The information provided covers three main research concepts: the evolution of lean beef, the BOLD study (Beef in an Optimal Lean Diet), and a meta-analysis comparing beef to chicken in a cholesterol lowering program. Physicians and patients leave knowing beef does fit into a healthy diet and can be just as effective as chicken in lowering cholesterol.
“As of February 2017, we’ve reached 4,137 doctors one-on-one,” Poinsett says. “If you multiply that out over the long term, we have the potential to reach more than 1.2 million patients per month.”
To request a copy of the patient brochure or for more information about the MD Outreach Program, please email afoster@txbeef.org or call toll-free 1-800-846-4113.