Pharmaceutical companies could be doing more to reach physicians. According to Manhattan Research, consumer-targeted pharma websites draw up to 20-30% of their visits from physicians, indicating that HCP-targeted resources either do not exist or are not adequately marketed. Only 23% of pharma marketers provide online sampling opportunities and less than half have physician-targeted websites.

Full Article from eMarketer.com

Manhattan Research has announced the leading pharma product website destinations for physicians, ranked by number of U.S. PCP visitors.

"The latest research reveals physician site traffic is spread among
product sites of new and early launch stage treatments, those with clinical
news coverage, and consistent with years past, products with a significant
consumer advertising component," states Mark Bard, president of Manhattan
Research.

1 Januvia
2 Singulair
3 Advair
4 Chantix
5 Adderall XR
etc....

Full Article from PR Newswire

Manhattan Research reports that 508,000 US physicians use online video today; 245,000 have posted professional content online directed to colleagues; and 100,000 have listened to professional podcasts downloaded online. And it's not just younger doctors that are engaged in online community - the Web 2.0 physician is surprisingly mature and experienced.

Download the White Paper from Manhattan Research

Manhattan research released their Taking the Pulse Europe v5.0 report. The report contains both European and country specific findings on physician specialties. The findings reveal important differences between American and European physicians with implications for product marketing.

Full Article from eHealthNews.eu

Online physician social network Sermo.com, now with 10,000 members, is becoming an increasingly important venue for many doctors, enabling them to connect to colleagues across the country at a moment's notice, share insights and experiences, and generate debate. Sermo colleagues are allowed to rank the relevance of each observation as a way to quickly surface key trends and insights.

Recent postings regarding pharma products include:

- Do you agree with Novartis discontinuing Zelnorm?
- Is Cymbalta good for Fibromyalgia?
- FDA sleeping pill warnings -- Have they gone too far?

Full Article from GovTech.net

A study published by Medefield found that 43% of quantitative pharmaceutical market research was conducted online last year, up from 37% in 2005 and 22% in 2004. For the first time, Internet-based research was the most popular, followed by face-to-face, phone, and other tactics such as direct mail. Reasons cited for using online research were the ability to reach large numbers of physician and consumer audiences segments both quickly and cost effectively.

Sermo.com, which was launched earlier this year and describes itself as the biggest online physicians' community, provides doctors with a venue to pose questions to colleagues, test theories, and sometimes identify trends and public health issues ahead of the game. The site has thus far decided not to accept money from pharma companies, but this could change. What remains to be seen is what type of opportunities the site will allow health advertisers to leverage; they must tread carefully while being mindful of user backlash to overtly promotional displays. At the very least, however, this site could provide pharma companies with valuable insight into the buzz that is circulating within the professional community, before it becomes common knowledge.

Article from CNNMoney.com

Between 70% and 90% of European physicians are using the Internet on a daily basis. This Conference Insights report looks at the way in which these physicians are using the web for work, and how the pharma industry is using online marketing in response, with a focus on e-Detailing.

Download Report from KeywordPharma

Nurses are strong users of information technology and strongly value its effects on the quality of care they can provide. Nearly half spend 3 or more hours per day using IT - from email, to electronic medical records, to web-based ordering. Nurses overwhelmingly feel IT improves patient care, but cite significant challenges to realizing its full potential.

Full Article by BusinessWire

PharmaKinnex released a study gauging the marketing communications preferences of 100 physician offices. The study underscores the importance of a multi-channel marketing approach and the challenges that still lay ahead for Internet-based communications. Office visits and direct mail are still the preferred devices over email and e-detailing. Surprisingly, 40 percent of those surveyed preferred faxes.

Full Article from PharmaKinnex

WebMD announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Medsite, Inc., a leading eDetailing company. The move will significantly increase WebMD's medical education services as well as access to additional physicians. Medsite has grown its database to over 400,000 physicians and works with over 60 pharma and other healthcare companies.

Full Article from Yahoo! Finance

Manhattan Research reports high use of Google and Yahoo!, and significant adoption of portable media players. The majority are using new forms of Internet technologies such as streaming media, downloadable audio content, and blogs. Additionally, 75% are interested in online customer service with drug companies.

Full Article from TechWeb.com
Related Article from iHealthBeat.com

According to a recent study by Skyscape, 84 percent of the medical professionals surveyed reported that PDAs use decreased potential medical errors. Further, 88 percent said increased efficiencies in their practice and 72 percent reporting being able to provide more care in less time.

Full Article from Skyscape

In this eyeforpharma survey of pharma execs it is evident that most feel that the industry needs to change its marketing model. Even while 85% of the 722 respondents have little or no involvement in Internet marketing, 69% say that their investment in it will increase over the next year, and a full 80% see an increase in the popularity of e-detailing over the next 3 years.

Full Article from eyeforpharma.com (available for a limited time)

At the same time, the effectiveness of traditional detailing continues to be questioned.

Full Article from eyeforpharma.com

Half of primary care physicians surveyed ranked Pfizer's Web site as the top corporate pharmaceutical site, according to a survey by Manhattan Research. The survey found that Merck had 44% of market share, Eli Lilly had 25% of market share, GlaxoSmithKline had 24% of market share and Novartis had 22% of market share.

Full Article from iHealthBeat

Physicians are adopting a nation wide trend of e-prescribing. Doctors and patients alike acknowledge its efficiency and time-saving benefits.

Full Article from Genengnews.com

There have been dramatic increases in physician use of online resources for professional purposes.

Full Article from Manhattan Research

The use of digital technology is improving the level of care that doctors can provide their patients. For example, doctors may set up computers in the waiting room for patients to look up health information online.

Full Story from Commercial Appeal (login required)

According to a recent Verispan study, cardiologists and endocrinologists are the most receptive specialties when it comes to e-promotions.

Full Article from eyeforpharma.com

US physicians who use PDAs in clinical settings tend to use them for administrative tasks such as address books and appointment reminders. For physicians that use them for patient care, the most common uses include checking medication data and accessing medical databases.

Full Article from eHealth Insider

Merck has launched a wireless version of their popular HCP medical resource MerckMedicus.com. HCPs can now access the site’s information from any web-browsing capable wireless device.

Full Article from PharmaLive.com (login required)

Physicians are very limited for research time because of heavy patient loads. More and more are accepting and even preferring online interactions with pharmaceutical companies. Web conferencing helps to provide them with these resources.

Full Article from Pharma Marketing News

A new report by Spyglass Consulting Group shows that both hospital and outpatient physicians agree that currently available mobile health devices are not satisfactory.

Full Article from eWEEK.com

A survey by ePocrates, done for the American Academy of Pediatrics, reveals a measurable impact on the quality of care when PDAs are used in the workplace. An overwhelming 80% of pediatricians who responded said that using a PDA helped them practice safer medicine.

Thorough summary of how eDetailing has evolved and performed, and what can be expected from it in the near future.

Full Article

A recent study finds that more than half of physicians considered ePromotion equivalent to traditional face-to-face promotion. While 67% of the physicians surveyed said they participate in ePromos in addition to traditional promos, 5% say they participate in ePromos instead of traditional promos.

Article

A recent study by Markets and Research outlines a number ways to increase “stickiness” for HCP websites.

Article

A survey conducted by Manhattan Research finds that 49% of physicians are spending an increasing amount of time using the Internet for work related purposes such as participation in eDetailing, takign CME courses, and using PDAs to access medical databases.

Article

According to a survey conducted by Pri-Med CME Insight, the number of primary care physicians taking online CME courses has increased 25% in 2004.

Article

A study conducted by Manhattan Research shows how e-Detailing has evolved from its original method of using websites to relay product information into “technology-supported detailing” where doctors preferences are incorporated into session to fully engage and educate them. The study also includes findings and statistics on use of e-Detailing such as using Flash to increase response rates.

Article

FIRSTCARE has partnered with ePocrates to allow physicians to utilize a point of care application that allows them to instantly access the list of drugs and drug options covered by FIRSTCARE. This e-application provides both the physician and the patient with a painless and highly efficient drug prescribing process.

Full Article

More physicians need to be provided with incentive for adopting point of care technologies such as EMR, PDA, and eRX, even though many physicians are already current users. If not, the adoption process could possibly stall in the coming years, according to recent studies done by Manhattan Research.

Full Article

Most technologically savvy physicians find that balancing traditional detailing with eDetailing helps manage their busy work schedules. Article

A new study by Manhattan Research finds that physicians are increasingly using the Internet and new interactive technologies for pharmaceutical and medical related services and products. The study titled, ePharma Physician® v4.0: The Future of Pharmaceutical e-Marketing, says that the ePharma Physician market has grown considerably encompassing 64% of all physicians practicing in the U.S. Amongst the 87% of ePharma Physicians see the Internet as a critical resource for information on prescription drugs and treatment options.

More findings

When sales opportunity is great but people resources are limited, Devin Paullin suggests taking a strategic approach to Pharma marketing through developing an e-promotion plan- a low cost alternative to traditional marketing. This article outlines the major components of this strategic plan and provides useful insight into applications.

Full Article

Getting samples into the hands of the right physicians the right time may be the single most effective marketing tactic. The practice of eSampling, however, has yet to catch on in a signficant way. Yet, done correctly, sampling via the Web is an efficient way to reach more physicians at low cost.

Intelligent Online Sampling Strategies from Pharma Marketing News (available until 5/25)
The “e”volution of Pharmaceutical Marketing from MDNetGuide

The number of electronically integrated physicians has grown by 48,000 in 2004, according to Manhattan Research's annual study of practicing U.S. physicians. The study finds several key trends emerging in 2004:

Read the press release.

A very interesting study by Sliced Bread Design which looks into the differences between how consumers and health experts evaluate the credibility of health sites. The study showed that online consumers and experts diverge greatly in their credibility assessment criteria. Among other conclusions, the study found that "health experts assigned more credibility to health sites that provided information from reputable sources and cited the names and credentials of authors for each article published". The visual appeal of a site's design was far less important to experts than it was to consumers when assessing health site credibility. The top criteria for health experts were:

Based on the study results, the report recommends guidelines for designing credible health sites.

Read abstract and/or download PDF report here.

According to Manhattan Research, this will be a pivotal year for eDetailing. With the kinks worked out of many of the pilot programs and doctors expectations evolving, spending on eDetailing is predicted to reach $200 million this year.

Read the press release.