81% of physicians use smartphones 

If you’ve been watching the growth in smartphone adoption and wondering whether or not you should be considering mobile in your marketing plan, here are some statistics y0u might be interested in.

An estimated 81% of physicians use smartphones (up from 72% in 2010), according to the latest Manhattan Research survey of 2,041 physicians.

Furthermore, in their report on ePharma Physicians (the 87% who use digital channels for pharma resources and connecting with reps),  Manhattan found that 45% would like to access pharma product information on their smartphone or iPad. Read More

The issue of regulation has huge implications for innovation in this space. 

Part of the transformation of health care is the new technology that allows smartphones to be used for diagnosis and tracking medical concerns. These mobile apps do everything from monitoring heart beats to managing glucose levels. There were more than 7,000 health-related apps for the iPhone in September 2010 according to a MobiHealthNews study. With the popularity of the iPad these numbers are sure to grow.

However, it’s important to realize that any programmer can develop a health app. Apple puts the responsibility of following regulatory guidance on developers. So when do these apps (and the smartphone or tablet itself) become considered medical devices requiring monitoring by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)?

The FDA defines a medical device broadly on their website and have a variety of classifications: “Medical devices range from simple tongue depressors and bedpans to complex programmable pacemakers with micro-chip technology and laser surgical devices.” As we’ve seen with pharmaceutical advertising and promotion, the existing FDA guidelines fail to address the unique issues that arise with new technology. The issue of regulation has huge implications for innovation in this space.
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patient adoption can drive physician adoption 

The adoption of mobile applications (apps) is impressive, especially given that they’ve only been around for two years. In July 2008 there were 500 third-party applications available for iPhone and iPod Touch in the App store. Today there are 250,000.

The question is, who is using them? What audiences are they appropriate for? And more importantly, are they audiences that you want to reach?

A Pew Internet and American Life Project study released last week noted that “having apps and using apps are not synonymous.” According to the study, 35% of adults have cell phones with apps, but only 2/3 of those who have apps actually use them. “Older adult cell phone users in particular do not use the apps that are on their phone.”
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Smartphones are on the growing edge of the economy. The Wall Street Journal recently reported a 63% increase in U.S. adoption of smartphones. What impact will this have on the world of rare disorders? It could be considerable.

Adoption by Physicians

Interestingly, some of the biggest growth in smartphone use is taking place among physicians. According to a recent study by Manhattan Research, 61% of physicians currently use smartphones, and smartphone adoption rate is expected to reach 81% among physicians by 2012. Read More