By the end of the year, Maine may have its own roving representatives to counter the influence of traveling drug company reps on doctors.

In an effort to save money and help patients, Maine is teaming with New Hampshire, Vermont and Prescription Policy Choices, a national nonprofit based in Maine, to give doctors information about prescription drugs - a kind of anti-drug-rep program.

"We take what the pharmaceutical industry does so well and apply it to basically unbiased information in the form of giving doctors just the data," said Jude Walsh, head of prescription drug programs for the Governor's Office of Health Policy and Finance.

Drug company reps travel from doctor's office to doctor's office with information about their company's latest drugs. They typically offer free samples, free food and free gifts to entice doctors to listen and to thank them for their time. Drug companies say they're giving doctors important, life-saving information about medications.

Experts say the information is a thinly disguised sales pitch and that drug company reps don't talk about generic drugs, older drugs or alternatives to medication.

Last year, the Maine Legislature passed a law allowing the state to establish a program in which neutral experts educate doctors about drug trials, side effects and which drugs work best for which ailment. Since then, Prescription Policy Choices has received $56,000 in grants from groups including the Maine Health Access Foundation to plan such a program.

"I want to make sure when I go to my doctor, when they're prescribing me something, that they're using science in determining what drug is best for me rather than marketing strategies," said Ann Woloson, executive director of Prescription Policy Choices.

The program would reward doctors with continuing education credits.

A handful of states, including Vermont, already have some form of an anti-drug-rep program. Prescription Policy Choices would expand Vermont's work and start it in New Hampshire and Maine.

Experts believe the program will eventually save patients and the state's Medicaid program money because doctors will have more information about - and will feel more comfortable prescribing - generic drugs and older drugs, both of which are typically cheaper than new, brand-name medications.

They point to Pennsylvania, which spends about $1 million a year on its anti-drug-rep program. According to a recent Associated Press story, the state saved about $572,000 a year on heartburn drugs alone with its program.

Maine's program would be more modest than Pennsylvania's program, Woloson said.

"Our goal is to make sure patients are healthy," Woloson said. "Now, if states can save money while doing that, great."

Because it's still in the planning stages, it's unclear how many representatives Maine would have and whether they would visit individual doctors or groups. Officials hope to have the program running by the end of the year.