A doctor call report, or DCR, is the daily report a medical representative files for every doctor they meet: who, where, which products were detailed, what samples were given and what the doctor said. The format below is one row per call, and works for pharma companies, distributors and third-party field forces alike.
The same sheet can hold chemist and stockist calls too. Just use the doctor column for the shop name and pick the right call type.
The columns a DCR needs
A good DCR answers three questions for the manager: did the MR meet the doctors on the list, what was discussed, and when is the next call. Everything else is optional.
| Column | Why it matters | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Date | Coverage is measured by day and by month. Always DD-MM-YYYY. | 29-09-2026 |
| MR name | Who made the call. Needed as soon as one manager has more than one MR. | Rahul Deshmukh |
| HQ / territory | Lets you see coverage by headquarter and spot ex-HQ days. | Pune East |
| Doctor | The doctor met. Use the exact name from your doctor list, every time. | Dr. Anjali Kulkarni |
| Speciality | Shows whether the right products are reaching the right specialities. | Diabetologist |
| Clinic / hospital | Many doctors sit at two or three places. This tells you where the call happened. | Kulkarni Diabetes Clinic |
| Call type | Planned, unplanned, follow-up or not met. Separates the tour plan from what actually happened. | Planned |
| Products detailed | Which brands were discussed, in the order they were detailed. | Metformin SR 500, Glimepiride 2 |
| Samples given | Product and quantity. Needed to reconcile the sample stock each MR carries. | Metformin SR 500 × 4 strips |
| Doctor feedback | The one line a brand manager actually wants: objections, queries, requests. | Wants patient leaflets |
| Next visit date | Turns the report into a call plan for the coming weeks. | 13-10-2026 |
If your company tracks doctor class (A, B, C by potential or visit frequency), keep it in the doctor list, not in the DCR. The MR should not type it on every call.
A filled-in example
Here is part of one MR's day in Pune East, exactly as it should look in the sheet. Note the third row: the doctor was not met, and it is still recorded.
| Doctor | Speciality | Call type | Detailed | Samples | Feedback | Next visit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dr. Anjali Kulkarni | Diabetologist | Planned | Metformin SR 500, Glimepiride 2 | Metformin SR 500 × 4 | Wants patient leaflets | 13-10-2026 |
| Dr. Sameer Joshi | General physician | Follow-up | Telmisartan 40 | Telmisartan 40 × 3 | Asked about price | 06-10-2026 |
| Dr. Farah Shaikh | Paediatrician | Not met | – | – | In OPD till 2 PM | 01-10-2026 |
Read across a month, these rows tell you which doctors on the list have not been called, which products are being detailed to the wrong speciality, and how many samples went out against how many calls.
Chemist and stockist calls in the same format
Most MRs also visit chemists near the clinic to check whether prescriptions are being filled, and stockists to check stock and pending orders. You do not need a separate sheet. Add call types such as "Chemist" and "Stockist", use the doctor column for the shop name, and use the feedback column for stock position ("Telmisartan 40 out of stock, reorder placed"). A filter on call type then gives you three reports from one sheet.
Six rules that keep a DCR useful
- One row per call, not per day. "Met 11 doctors, detailed all products" cannot be checked or filtered.
- Doctor names from the list, spelled the same way. "Dr. A. Kulkarni" and "Dr. Anjali Kulkarni" become two doctors in a pivot table, and coverage looks wrong.
- Record "not met" calls. They show effort and tell the manager when to plan the next attempt.
- Samples with quantity, not just the product. "Gave samples" is useless when you reconcile stock at month end.
- Feedback in the doctor's words. "Positive response" on every row tells the brand team nothing. "Asked about price versus current brand" does.
- File the same day. A DCR written from memory two days later is mostly guesswork, especially the feedback column.
Common mistakes
- Copying the tour plan into the DCR. The DCR should record what happened, not what was planned. Keep the call type honest.
- Too many columns. Every extra field is typed on a phone, often at night. MRs start leaving columns blank, then leaving the report.
- Free-text speciality and call type. Use dropdowns. The template on this page has them.
- Mixing the expense claim into the DCR. Keep travel and daily allowance in a separate daily expense report. They go to different people.
The real problem: DCRs filed at midnight
Any MR can tell you the problem with the DCR is not the format. It is that after twelve calls and a long wait outside a busy OPD, nobody wants to type twelve rows at night. So the report is filed late, filed in bulk from memory, or skipped, and the feedback column says "good response" every time.
The fix is to capture each call at the clinic door, in the fewest possible taps. That is what vBol does. The MR saves one WhatsApp number as a contact and, after each call, sends a short voice note in Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, Bangla or whatever language they speak:
vBol transcribes it, pulls out the doctor, products, samples, feedback and next visit, and reads the record back on WhatsApp in the MR's language with buttons to confirm or fix a field. Nothing is written until the MR confirms. Confirmed calls land as rows in your Google Sheet, an Excel workbook on OneDrive or SharePoint, or Ekatm ERP, with GPS location attached. At 7 PM the manager gets one WhatsApp message: what was filed, by whom, and which MRs sent nothing today.
There is no app to install and no login. Vritti sets up the DCR fields and the destination sheet with you, and most teams file real calls the same day. It is free for 30 days (up to 5 confirmed reports per person per day during the trial), then ₹199 per user per month for teams of up to 100 users, with a custom plan for bigger field forces. See pricing, or read the full guide to field reporting for pharma reps.
Prefer to stay on a spreadsheet? Download the free template on this page. It has the columns above, dropdowns for speciality and call type, and three example rows you can overwrite.
Frequently asked questions
What is DCR in pharma?
DCR stands for daily call report: the report a medical representative files every working day listing each doctor, chemist or stockist visited, the products detailed, samples given and the doctor's response.
What should a doctor call report include?
At minimum the date, MR name, territory, doctor, speciality, clinic, call type, products detailed, samples given, doctor feedback and the next visit date. One row per doctor, including doctors who were not met.
What is the difference between a DCR and an MCR?
A DCR is filed daily and lists each call. An MCR (monthly call report) is a summary built from the DCRs: calls made against the doctor list, coverage by speciality and samples given in the month.
Should a DCR record doctors who were not met?
Yes. A 'not met' row shows the MR went to the clinic and tells the manager when to try again. Without it, a missed doctor and a skipped doctor look the same.
How do I get MRs to submit the DCR on time?
Make each call quick to record at the clinic door instead of saving it all for the night. A short voice note per call, confirmed with one tap, gets filed the same day; a long form at 11 PM usually does not.