In today’s digital world, patients are more empowered than ever to take their search for healthcare into their own hands. But with the plethora of online content and resources available to them, it can be difficult to sift through the clutter to find the specific care and treatment information they really want and need.
Thankfully, powerful new digital tools are making it much easier for patients to find the right provider early in their treatment journey. By streamlining patients’ connection to providers that match their specific needs, such as medical condition or preferred location, doctor search platforms can help get patients on the path toward the right treatment sooner.
So, what’s the best way for pharma to support patients as they’re searching for care? The answer is straightforward: Apply a patient-centric approach to digital tools and doctor-search platforms that allows patients to easily access their desired information.
Phreesia survey data shows that when patients searched online for information about providers, expertise was among the top criteria they looked for. And this consideration was even more important among patients with complex conditions. For instance, surveyed patients who were being managed by a specialist (68%) were nearly twice as likely to say they had looked for expertise information online, compared with 36% of surveyed patients who were being managed solely by a primary care physician.
Among all surveyed groups, expertise, insurance, and location consistently emerged as important considerations. Still, when providing content on doctor search and other digital platforms, it’s essential to understand that the types of information patients seek can vary based on factors such as medical condition and patient population.
For example, while surveyed patients with a rare disease (80%) or cancer (72%) were significantly more likely to look for expertise online compared to surveyed patients with a chronic disease (54%) or caregivers of pediatric patients (51%), respondents in those latter groups were more likely to look online for insurance and location information than the former groups. These percentages underscore the finding that different patient populations might use varying criteria beyond just referrals to select a provider.
Providing sought-out information to patients and caregivers when they’re searching for care not only helps meet their content needs and expectations, it’s also key to improving their overall experience, and ultimately, their health outcomes. As patients continue to take a more active—and earlier—role in their care decisions, pharma can play a pivotal role in bringing patients and providers together, advancing important treatment conversations and supporting each individual on their healthcare journey.
