Healthy Skepticism Library item: 14708

Warning: This library includes all items relevant to health product marketing that we are aware of regardless of quality. Often we do not agree with all or part of the contents.

Publication type: news

The Internet Has Become Essential To Canadian Physicians
PharmaLive 2008 Nov 25
http://pharmalive.com/news/index.cfm?articleID=588225

Full text:

Communicating with physicians online appears to be the new reality for Canadian Marketers competing for physicians’ attention, announced researchers at Essential Research Inc. In fact, Canadian physicians prefer to receive most medical information online including clinical practice guidelines, the latest updates across therapeutic areas and clinical trial results.

Key findings include: the mix of offline and online sources that are the most highly relevant and frequently accessed by Physicians; the role Pharmaceutical Sales Representatives can play in an increasingly digital healthcare environment; and how physician reach of some online sources such as Continuing Medical Education and medical journals are almost at par with their offline counterparts.

“The growing use of the Internet by Primary Care Physicians continues to redefine the nature of the relationship between physicians and the Pharmaceutical industry,” say researchers about the results. “With 81% of physicians agreeing that the Internet increases their clinical knowledge, their channels of communications have broadened.

This means they no longer rely on just the traditional sources to be their main conduits for information.” As for emerging trends, almost half of the physicians surveyed use a PDA at point-of-care, suggesting their use of the Internet is evolving towards clinical tools which directly impact their decision-making on patient care. In addition to identifying the current and emerging Communications Landscape for Primary Care Physicians, the “Essential Physician” study examined specific online sources in greater depth including eCME (online accredited Continuing Medical Educations), eDetailing (internet-based product, disease or clinical presentations), Tablet PC Representative Detailing, Pharmaceutical Portals, Physician Portals (i.e. cma.ca, mdPASSPORT.com, medscape.com) as well as Online Journals, eNewsletters and Banner Advertising.