What Physicians Want

Physicians are early adopters of mobile technology: 88% of respondents own smartphones and 54% use tablets in daily work 

A recent survey of physicians attempted to answer this question and found the result to be “help me help my patients.” While the Publicis Touchpoint Solutions/Sermo survey was small (250 physicians) and focused (physicians who use the social networking site Sermo), it does give us some insights. I’ve highlighted the digital themes, which are consistent with other studies.

More electronic access to materials and reps
Physicians are early adopters of mobile technology: 88% of respondents own smartphones and 54% use tablets in daily work. They want more access to on-demand resources, including disease- and product-focused websites, eSampling, email, and access to better informed reps who are available through phone and live video.

Sixty-eight percent of physicians wanted “more” or “significantly more” use of email to cover topics of interest. This aligns with our experience at Siren Interactive–the email open and click-through rates among healthcare professionals reflect their interest in a rare disease or a new product.

More use of iPads in detailing
Survey respondents like iPads; 82% want to see “more” or “significantly more” use of iPads or other tablets by representatives calling on their practices.

More HCP-focused websites
Eighty-six percent of respondents would like to see more HCP-focused disease state websites, and 77% want more brand-/product-oriented HCP-focused websites. This highlights an opportunity for biopharma to create sites that are specifically designed to meet the needs of physicians and other healthcare professionals.

Overall, this survey shows that doctors are seeking support and are open to accepting it from biopharma companies. If you can provide tools that help them help their patients it will pique their interest.

About Eileen O'Brien

Eileen has more than 16 years of digital healthcare marketing experience. She is an opinion leader on social media and biopharma, and has been invited to speak at industry conferences and quoted in publications. She can be found on Twitter at @EileenOBrien and on Google+.

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