As pharma reps’ access to physicians continues to decline, this case study examines the effectiveness of reaching physicians through other means—the EHR.
THE CHALLENGE
Today’s physicians struggle to balance the increasing demands of patient loads, electronic health record (EHR) systems, and time spent on administrative tasks.1
As a result, pharmaceutical representatives’ access to physicians has been declining even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Though 80% of healthcare providers (HCPs) identified as “rep-accessible” in 2008 (that is, willing to meet with over 70% of the sales reps who try to approach them), that number had decreased to 44% in 2017.2 The percentage of healthcare providers willing to see pharmaceutical company reps in person had declined from 67% in 2018 to 54% in 2019.1
Throughout the pandemic, physician access has become even more of a challenge. A survey of physicians found that only 20% of respondents had interacted face-to-face with pharmaceutical company employees in the clinic or office in the prior week; for hospital-based physicians, that number declines to 10%.3 Sales reps’ meetings with physicians also shifted from 64% in-person prior to the COVID-19 pandemic to 65% virtual during the pandemic.4
Physicians are also difficult to reach through traditional internet marketing. According to the 2022 Medscape Physician Lifestyle and Happiness Report, many physicians today spend less than 10 non-working hours online weekly as compared to the average U.S. internet user, who spends nearly 7 hours online a day.5
Introducing physicians to new care plan options, including medications, and educating them about new therapeutic alternatives has become more challenging.
Increasing Market Awareness Remains a Challenge
The medication referenced in this case study is a prescription medication used, along with diet and exercise, to lower blood sugar in adults with type 2 diabetes. This medication is not for people with type 1 diabetes. The marketing team supporting this medication wanted to increase marketing awareness of this medication, but the COVID-19 pandemic made that more challenging versus their normal promotional marketing mix. The objective for the brand marketing team was to reach HCPs of interest at optimal times, if possible, during their daily workflow.
THE SOLUTION
Veradigm Digital Health Media is unique because it enables marketing teams to reach HCPs during their normal daily workflow.
Although HCPs spend notably less time online than average, they spend a great deal of time interacting with their EHRs. One report analyzed evidence on the number of hours physicians spend in daily EHR use. This report compiled data from 10 studies, published from 2016 to 2021, to show that physicians spend an average of 4.5 hours each day using their EHRs.6
Another study found that physicians spend an average of 16 minutes using their EHRs per patient encounter.7 Veradigm’s ability to reach HCPs through their normal use of their EHR means HCPs are accessible far more frequently than they would be through other promotional options.*
Veradigm Digital Health Media Could Deliver the Client’s Message to the Right HCPs:
- Specialists only
- Generalists diagnosing or treating patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D)
Veradigm Could Deliver the Client’s Message to HCPs at the Right Time:
- During HCPs’ normal workflow
- On average, HCPs viewed this medication’s approved information for approximately 32 seconds
In contrast, when advertisers attempted to target a group of physicians with banner ads, they found that 80% of physicians didn’t even see the banners, which were blocked by ad blocking software.8
CASE STUDY RESULTS: Surpassing the Client’s Goals
Veradigm provided the client with more targeted impressions for their medication’s messaging, in 2021, than planned. These impressions were focused on HCPs of interest in relevant practice areas, such as family medicine, internal medicine, general practice, and cardiology. Veradigm provided the client the unique ability to deliver highly targeted awareness messaging in a channel that HCPs use more often than other digital media channels.
Try Veradigm Digital Health Media for Highly Targeted Messages
Veradigm provides biopharma marketers an opportunity to deliver awareness messages directly to the HCPs of interest, during their point of care workflow. HCPs spend significantly less time online than the average American, but they spend hours interacting with their EHRs, which is when approved medication messaging is available to them. Contact us to learn more about Veradigm Digital Health Media and how we can help you reach the physicians in your target market.
CONTACT US veradigm.com/contact OR VISIT US AT veradigm.com
References:
1. Finnegan J. “Physicians Increasingly Too Busy to See Pharma Sales Reps, Report Finds.” Fierce Healthcare. Updated September 17, 2019. Accessed April 1, 2022, https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/practices/physicians-increasingly-too-busy-to-see-pharma-sales-reps-report-finds.
2. “Pharma Sales Reps Are Struggling – Here’s Why.” BlueNovius. Updated March 23, 2018. Accessed April 1, 2022, https://www.bluenovius.com/healthcare-marketing/pharma-sales-reps-struggling.
3. King S. “Survey Results: Pharma Faces Slow Re-engagement Process with Physicians.” FirstWord PHARMA. Updated June 8, 2020. Accessed April 1, 2022, https://firstwordpharma.com/story/5033753.
4. Melville D. “Post-Pandemic Physician Engagement: 4 Areas to Consider When Rethinking Your Sales Talent and Their Approach.” PharmExec.com. Updated April 20, 2021. Accessed April 1, 2022, https://www.pharmexec.com/view/post-pandemic-physician-engagement-4-areas-to-consider-when-rethinking-your-sales-talent-and-their-approach.
5. Baggett SM, Martin KL. “Medscape Physician Lifestyle & Happiness Report 2022.” Medscape. Updated January 14, 2022. Accessed April 1, 2022, https://www.medscape.com/slideshow/2022-lifestyle-happiness-6014665.
6. Overhage JM, McCallie D. “Physician Time Spent Using the Electronic Health Record During Outpatient Encounters.” Annals of Internal Medicine. February 4, 2020;172(3):169-174. doi: https://doi.org/10.7326/M18-3684.
7. Gogineni T, Kahn JG, Maya S. “How Much Time Do Physicians Spend in the EHR?” MedPage Today’s KevinMD.com. Updated April 10, 2022. Accessed June 10, 2022, https://www.kevinmd.com/2022/04/how-much-time-do-physicians-spend-in-the-ehr.html.
8. Benko B. “Banner Ads Don’t Work on U.S. Physicians.” Forbes. Updated May 13, 2019. Accessed June 11, 2022, https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2019/05/13/banner-ads-dont-work-on-u-s-physicians/?sh=52c2f1343dbb.
* Veradigm Digital Health Media services operate in a manner that is compliant with HIPAA and other applicable laws. In addition, the EHR displays advertisements in an iframe window adjacent to the EHR workflow that is separate and distinguishable from the clinical and practice management workflow within the EHR. No biopharma or device advertisements appear during the prescribing workflow.
