55% of DTC pharma marketers are expected to increase emphasis this year on patient relationship programs focusing on persistency and compliance, including e-marketing initiatives. Overall, 84% expect their DTC budgets to stay the same or rise.

Full Article from eyeforpharma.com

A recent study by Jupiter Research shows that the main reasons people use online support groups is to discuss medication and treatment options.

Full Article from iHealthBeat

The Internet can aid with each step of a clinical trial, from recruitment and registration to data collection, analysis and publication of results. Benefits may include making trials more manageable, less expensive, easier to administer, and less time-consuming. The biggest threats to online trials are the security risks of electronic data collection, transmission, and storage.

Full Article from Journal of Medical Internet Research

Pilot programs aim to find out whether insurers can lower costs by paying doctors incentives to keep closer tabs on their patients through a special Web site and frequent e-mails.

Full Article from Tennessean.com

A JupiterResearch studies finds that 20% of online consumers are exposed to health content and health information through other consumers. "Consumer-created health content" (or CCHC) is generated through discussions in chat rooms, e-mails, IMs and other online communities and channels. More than just looking for peer support, these consumers look to others for coping, treatment, and even diagnosis.

Full Article from ClickZ

DTC ad awareness online quadrupled in 2004. One-third of patients that contacted their physicians after seeing a DTC ad visited the Internet before doing so.

Full Article from MediaPost

Health plans and medical groups are now beginning to compensate doctors for responding to patient emails. Office visits take up valuable time and tend to be more costly. E-mail correspondence is a cost effective way for doctors to interact with patients and answer their health related questions.

Full Article from NYTimes.com (login required)

Patients still exhibit high interest in online communications with physicians, but also share concerns regarding price and privacy.

Full Article from Harris Interactive