A recent survey of 550 doctors across various specialties reveals their changing information needs and communication preferences when connecting with pharmaceutical companies, especially as their patient interactions have been reshaped by the Covid-19 pandemic.
One nugget of particular interest to pharma planners devising virtual-meeting strategies aimed at practitioners: In this era of pandemic, 59 percent of doctors say they want interaction with companies at least once a month—four percent said daily; 23 percent said weekly; and 32 percent said monthly was acceptable to them.
The early-June survey and corresponding July report, titled “Managing Uncertainty: Helping Physicians Survive in the Short Term and Thrive in the Long Term,” also finds that the shift to conducting nearly half of patient appointments via telehealth leaves HCPs wanting more types of patient-communication materials from pharma firms than just print brochures converted to PDF. In addition, even though 52 percent of respondents have disallowed in-person rep visits until at least August 31, HCPs do want virtual conversations with reps on clinical-trial updates, patient-support resources, and more—and those conversations last, on average, four times longer than in-person rep encounters.
More results from the survey, conducted by health-and-wellness ad agency AbelsonTaylor and medical-focused cloud-services provider Veeva, are summarized in this article in MM&M (formerly Medical Marketing & Media).
