The new research: doctor/pharma relationship

Doctor/pharma relationships: the latest research

• The huge shift in knowledge sharing has affected how doctors interact with the healthcare industry as a whole and the pharma industry, specifically.
• The research delivered in-depth insights into the proportion of time doctors use digital resources, and for what reasons.
• If pharma companies want to reach doctors, their websites alone will not suffice. However there is still a role for the medical rep.

As digital transforms the landscape of communication, how are physicians today interacting with pharma and healthcare resources, what is their perceived value of these resources, and is there variation across European countries? Paul Rice, Chief Operating Officer of M3 EU, examines the results of research the company conducted with doctors in Germany, France, Spain, Italy and the UK to find out.

Even with limited time, it is key that doctors keep up to date with the healthcare industry and the latest drug and technology developments so that they can offer their patients the best treatments.

Doctors are now using a wide variety of resources to share knowledge and interact with each other, both professionally and socially. In addition to more traditional media, there is an abundance of digital platforms, forums, social media and even messaging apps, which are impacting and changing how the industry accesses and interacts with information.

This huge shift in knowledge sharing has affected how doctors interact with the healthcare industry as a whole and the pharma industry, specifically. These changes are not universal, however, and vary hugely across countries.

With such an abundance of resources available, doctors must not only use their time effectively but also ensure the credibility of their sources to avoid bad science.  

Research overview

In order to gain a contemporary view of how doctors are using the resources available to them and interacting with each other and the healthcare and pharma industries, we commissioned research in June 2017 with 1,050 doctors across UK, Germany, France, Spain and Italy. The study also examined the ways medical specialists prefer to receive data and information.

European comparisons

The research delivered in-depth insights into the proportion of time doctors use digital resources, and for what reasons.

It found that Italian and Spanish doctors lead the way for time spent using digital resources for professional purposes.

Although Germany comes last in this table it is the only market where the use of digital resources is greater for professional, rather than social, reasons.

Italy and the UK spend the most total time using digital resources for social and professional reasons in a typical week, with France lagging behind, in fifth.

Interestingly, oncologists and haematologists are the groups that spend the most time using online resources for professional purposes, with internet and literature searches proving most popular.

While over half of medical specialists in Spain said they had accessed medical journal sites in the last week, this resource is least popular among German doctors, although still 40% of German doctors had accessed medical journal sites in the last week.

Doctors in Germany are also least likely to attend events, meetings and congresses, while Italian practitioners are the most prolific networkers.

Table 1 shows the most common resources (in order of preference) that doctors use for self development and information gathering, and encompass medical communities, events, websites and journals.

Internet searching	CME/ CPD
Literature searches	Drug references
Online news updates/ emails	Events/meetings/congresses
Social networking	Medical communities
Journal sites	Professional bodies
Print journals	Publisher apps
Medical reps	Pharma mailing
Medical e/ reprints	Pharma websites

Table 1. The most common resources used by doctors for self development and information gathering.

The research also demonstrated that frequency of use is not always aligned with the perceived value of information sources. For example, while 70% of doctors rated medical communities as valuable (scores 1 - 3), only 50% rated social networking as highly, and 29% said that it was of no value in their work.

Embracing digital

Healthcare professionals across Europe are embracing digital to resource and interact with other industry professionals. Doctors agree they couldn’t do their jobs without access to digital and internet technology and information.

Figure 2. Percentage of respondents' abilities to do their job without digital resources, by region. M3 (EU)

In addition, the research uncovered that medical communities and physician networks are playing a crucial role in the way doctors access information and care for their patients. In fact, doctors believe that physician networks facilitate access to important healthcare information and contribute to improved patient outcomes. Moreover, the study showed that doctors continue to put a strong emphasis on the importance of continuous medical education (CME ), which is often delivered via medical communities, citing digital platforms as a crucial resource.

Closed medical communities, in particular, are often valued for their services, including newsfeeds, community forums, and relevant links to online education programmes. Moreover, these digital networks provide a platform for collaborative clinical problem solving via social networking. Around half of doctors in Spain and the UK believe that physician networks have ultimately helped to reduce the cost of patient care, the report found.

Online medical communities and networks offer doctors an opportunity to discuss non-clinical matters, share the latest information from medical conferences and summits and, most importantly, share clinical expertise and knowledge. Figure 3 shows that Spanish and UK doctors use online platforms for knowledge sharing and communicating with other doctors the most, while doctors in Germany are least likely to use online tools for communicating with peers.

Figure 3. Average numbers of doctors (in a respondent’s therapy area) communicated with online in the last month, by region. M3 (EU).

Pharma’s communication with doctors

Figure 4. The importance of pharma websites for doctors by region. M3 (EU).

What are doctors’ attitudes towards the pharma industry and the approaches used to interact with medical specialists?

The research found that doctors agree that the use of sales representatives is still an accepted tactic. Overall, the proportion of doctors who rate medical reps as essential or valuable slightly outweighs those who believe that they have little or no value. However, pharma websites are not well perceived; a majority of doctors think they are of little or no value and only 7% rate them as an essential resource. This is in stark contrast to the 40%+ of doctors who say they couldn’t do their job without access to digital and internet technology and information. If pharma companies want to reach doctors via digital channels, their websites alone will not suffice.

Digital platforms are gaining popularity among medical specialists, and are the new hotbed for pharmaceutical promotions and information sharing. Online communities deliver pharma companies an opportunity to target doctors at the time they are most willing to receive promotional and educational materials. Furthermore, digital communication campaigns allow the pharma industry to reach a larger proportion of medical staff with their messaging in a fast, economic, and straightforward manner. For example, M3’s experience in the UK is that Doctors.net.uk’s ‘virtual rep’ communication campaigns reach 47% of the target GP audience and 34% of the target secondary care audience within a campaign of six digital messages, the average time spent per user being 4 minutes 30 seconds for GPs and 6 minutes for secondary care.

What’s more, this marketing tactic can be effective as a standalone digital campaign, or to complement the traditional sales force.

Digital marketing campaigns deliver significant ROI via cost-effective online messaging, which reaches significantly more doctors.

While there is overall agreement that medical reps remain an important resource , there is significant variation between countries. The study found that doctors in Germany, Italy and Spain, on balance, are more likely to regard reps as having value rather than no value, while doctors in the UK are equally balanced between considering them of value and of no value. Interestingly, in France, a slightly greater proportion of physicians rated medical reps of no value than of value.

Figure 5. Value of medical reps for doctors’ jobs, by region. M3 (EU).

Investing in digital

As online medical communities become essential resources for medical specialists, digital communication campaigns should be at the heart of every pharma campaign.

Recent statistics show that pharma companies are recognising this trend and there is a corresponding rise in digital investments, especially in online meetings, emailing, and digital marketing. Although these currently make up only 3-6% of the total promotional spend, this is expected to increase in the near future.