A Session with Head of Healthcare from Google

Tuesday, April 6th, 2010

I had the pleasure of sitting in on a presentation by Head of Healthcare at Google, Amy Cowan last week. While attending CBI’s 9^th Annual eMarketing Forum for the Bio/Pharmaceutical Industry, Ms Cowan gave a presentation focusing on the web habits of healthcare professionals.

If one thing was very clear it was that Physicians are using the Internet more today then they ever have.  In a study that Google ran, they found that 86% of Physicians are using the internet to gather healthcare, medical and pharmaceutical information.  In fact, the Internet was the number one source for this type information – 78% are using online CME compared to 71% using peer journals and 67% utilizing pharmaceutical reps.

What I also found very interesting is where the Physicians are using the Internet.  The Google study showed that 92% of the providers are searching for information at the office with 21% of them using the internet while in the exam room.  These numbers go to show the importance of online data for doctors in their day-to-day practice.  88% of doctors were using the internet at home to find healthcare information, while 59% are using a mobile device.

Among the topics that doctors are researching, conditions came in first at 57% followed by treatment at 36% and pharmaceutical brand at 33%.

Consumers are also turning online to find relevant healthcare information.  61% of consumers studied said that they use the Internet to gather healthcare information and that 32% of those use this information to ask their doctors specific questions.

So what does this mean for us?  If doctors are turning to online sources in rapidly increasing numbers, the importance of reaching out to them online also needs to increase.  Whether it be a well targeted email campaign, eDetail or informational YouTube channel, marketers need to turn their attention to what is becoming the far and away the most popular medium for healthcare information.

Federal reporting under the “Sunshine Act”

Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009

January 2010 is approaching fast.

Best guess is Federal reporting under the “Sunshine Act” will be required in March, 2011… but tracking of aggregate spending on HCP’s must begin January, 2010.  SpendTrackPRO can help Pharma, BioTech and Med Device companies build the database and reporting mechanism they will need to comply.

At a recent conference sponsored by the Center for Business Intelligence, several consulting firms who were presenters discussed the difficulty in finding all of the various transactions from multiple departments that need to be tracked.  CBI then recommended the use of external data sources (like HDS) to create a more accurate and robust Customer Master file.

In short, you will have an accurate HCP record on which to “attach”’ the transaction, saving lots of data entry, duplication, and minimizing errors.  The ability to then link a HCP to their multiple practice locations and then aggregating all spend at both the HCP and the group practice level using HDS’ proprietary ID system will simplify the reporting process greatly.

Check out our downloadable PDF at www.healthcaredatasolutions.com/spendtrackpro.html for more information.