how do doctors want to engage with pharma on new … · 2016-06-14 · how do doctors want to...

HOW DO DOCTORS WANT TO ENGAGE WITH PHARMA ON NEW PRODUCTS?dr tim ringrose, Ceo, M3 (eu)DECEMBER 2014

More than 80% of European doctors say they want to stay abreast of new developments about pharmaceutical products. But how do they want to receive this information?”

“

”IN ASSOCIATION WITH

01 Introduction

02 What most influences doctors’ choice of treatment?

04 How doctors like to receive promotional material

05 Preferred sources and formats when researching pharma products

06 How doctors spend their professional time online

07 Attitudes to online learning and conclusions

08 Information on M3 Group

Contents

01 How do doctors want to engage with pharma on new products?

“72% of EU doctors say pharma’s delivery of new medicines will be the main factor contributing to improving the outlook for their patients over the next three years”

IntroduCtIon

new data from M3 Global research shows eu doctors are optimistic about pharma’s ability to deliver new medicines, with 72% of them saying they are key to improving the outlook for their patients over the next three years (Figure 1).

Indeed, new medicines are considered more influential than ‘better management of

chronic conditions’ and ‘more patient education’, which were respondents’ second

and third top choices respectively.

In line with this, more than 80% of european doctors agree they are interested in

staying up-to-date with new developments about pharmaceutical products. But

what influences their choice of treatment and how do they prefer to receive product

information?

M3 Global research put these questions to 1,848 eu doctors mainly from the top

five eu nations – Germany (332); France (380); Italy (266); spain (293) and uK (318).

We hope that their answers will prove useful to pharma marketers when deciding how

best to engage with doctors in the eu.

New drugs/treatments available

All EU (1848)

72%

0% 50% 100%

Germany (332)

France (380)

Italy (266)

Spain (293)

UK (318)

Better management of chronic conditions

More patient education

New treatment for terminal conditions

Availability of generics

78%71%

73%76%

62%

45%27%

55%49%

45%56%

38%19%

45%39%

46%46%

26%31%

37%17%18%

15%

13%16%

9%10%

9%21%

Figure 1: Reasons for significant improvement in outlook


Healthcare spending throughout europe is highly politicised, coming as it does from an increasingly constrained public purse. national efforts to limit either the supply of, or demand for, medicines go some way therefore to explaining the marked differences in how doctors from the largest eu nations identify the three top influences on their choice of treatments.

Guidelines would seem to be the most pertinent influence in the uK. Figure 2 shows

that national guidelines (for example, those published by the uK’s national Institute

for Health and Care excellence) were mentioned by 69% of uK doctors and local

guidelines and availability on formulary by 56%. In contrast, national guidelines were

only mentioned by 30% of spanish doctors and local guidelines by as few as 5% of

French doctors and 21% across the eu.

the influence of guidelines on treatment decisions is highlighted in Figure 2a, which

shows the respective scores from the five major eu countries.

WHAt Most InFluenCes doCtors’ CHoICe oF treAtMent?

Figure 2a: Influence of guidelines on medical treatment

Clinical papers/evidence

National guidelines(e.g. NICE)

International guidelines

Medical education

Symposia/conferences

Local guidelines/formulary

Price of treatment

All EU (1848)

Germany (332)

France (380)

Italy (266)

Spain (293)

UK (318)

54%46%

65%58%

57%39%

44%46%

44%36%

30%69%

43%45%

31%70%

46%14%

39%36%

37%43%

63%27%

26%39%

37%17%

16%10%

21%18%

5%17%

15%56%

20%25%

18%16%

17%25%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80%

International guidelines National guidelines Local guidelines

43%

45%

31%

70%

46%

14%

44% 21%

46% 18%

44% 5%

36% 17%

30% 15%

69% 56%

All EU (1848)

Germany (332)

France (380)

Italy (266)

Spain (293)

UK (318)

Figure 2: Influences on medical treatment

How do doctors want to engage with pharma on new products? 03

europe is also host to various medical traditions and cultures, which may explain why

international guidelines are so much more influential in treatment decisions in Italy,

cited by 70% of respondents, in contrast to the uK’s 14%. It may also explain why

medical education resonates so widely among spanish doctors with 63% citing it as a

leading influence in contrast to 27% among their British counterparts.

overall, the picture is highly variable with the most consistent influence being the

evidence presented in clinical papers. But even within this single leading factor, there

are marked contrasts with 64% of French doctors, for example, citing this at one end

of the spectrum and only 39% of uK doctors at the other.

other sources of influence mentioned but not tabulated in Figure 2 include:

• Promotional information from pharma companies: selected by 4% of

respondents, rising to 8% in spain and Italy and dipping to 3% in the uK and 2%

in Germany.

• Key opinion leaders (Kols): selected by 8% of respondents.

• Peer advocacy / prescribing behaviour: selected by 34% of respondents in

France, 17% in the uK and 12% in spain.

Clinical papers/evidence

National guidelines(e.g. NICE)

International guidelines

Medical education

Symposia/conferences

Local guidelines/formulary

Price of treatment

All EU (1848)

Germany (332)

France (380)

Italy (266)

Spain (293)

UK (318)

54%46%

65%58%

57%39%

44%46%

44%36%

30%69%

43%45%

31%70%

46%14%

39%36%

37%43%

63%27%

26%39%

37%17%

16%10%

21%18%

5%17%

15%56%

20%25%

18%16%

17%25%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80%

“Overall the picture is highly variable with the most consistent influence being the evidence presented in clinical papers”


While promotional material from pharma companies is clearly not a top influence in treatment decisions (selected by an average of only 4% of doctors), understanding how eu doctors prefer to receive such material can help boost its impact.

In top place is the face-to-face visit from a sales rep, followed by information

disseminated from an independent website (see Figure 3). For this question, the

respondents were asked for their top three choices (a first scores 3, a second 2, a

third 1 and no points if an option is not chosen at all).

Further analysis, depicted in Figure 3a, shows two options (downloadable content

and emails from independent websites) are closely related with a much higher

preference for independent website contact among doctors who do not see reps. the

researchers looked specifically at how the doctors responded to the option regarding

face-to-face rep visits, filtering out those who selected this as a first choice (569 or

30.8%), as one of three choices (1056 or 57.1%), and as no option (792 or 42.9%).

those who close their doors to the sales force are shown to prefer to visit or receive

communications from independent websites more than the average doctor. For

downloading content, the ‘no reps’ group scored 63% versus a 50% average; for

receiving emails, the figures are 49% versus a 34% average, and for researching

independent sites, they are 61% versus 48%.

All EU (1848)

Face to face rep visit

Independent website (e.g. physician network)

Downloadable materials (e.g. documents, podcasts, webcasts)

Email from independent website (e.g. physician network)

Monograph

Email from pharmaceutical/device company

Product website

Slide deck

Pharmaceutical/medical device company website

Video

0.00 0.50 1.00 1.50

1.31

1.01

0.98

0.68

0.61

0.29

0.29

0.25

0.21

0.16

Downloadable content

0%

All respondents(n=1848)

20% 40% 60% 80%

Emails from independent websites

Independent websites

All choosing face to face rep visits as first choice(n=569)

All choosing face to face rep visits as one ofthree choices (n=1056)

All choosing NOTchoosing face to facerep visits as one ofthree choices (n=792)

50%

38%

41%

63%

34%21%

23%49%

48%

36%

39%61%

Figure 3: Preferences for receiving promotional material

Figure 3a: Use of independent sites analysed by propensity to see reps

HoW doCtors lIKe to reCeIve ProMotIonAl MAterIAl


When researching pharma products, doctors show a clear preference for scientific journals and independent websites, as shown in Figure 4. A massive 91% are keeping up with the latest science at least once a month.

the figure may well be higher if searching on the independent sites, which often post

a summary of the most important studies, is included. nearly three-quarters of all eu

doctors say they visit such sites weekly or monthly. the professional bodies come in a

close third as a source of information and these also cover the most pertinent research

in their area of medicine.

Concise information suits the busy working lives of doctors. Figure 4a shows the

top slots for usefulness of formats all go to summaries: of the medical guidelines,

of information on individual drugs, of medical protocols or algorithms, of single-

page rather than multiple-page details, and of clinical papers. For this question, the

doctors were asked to rank their answers from most to least useful where, in the data

processing, ‘most useful’ drew a score of 11 and ‘least useful’ a score of 1.

Figure 4: Frequency of information sources used

“Concise information suits the busy working lives of doctors”

PreFerred sourCes And ForMAts oF InForMAtIon

46%

100%

Scient

ific

jour

nals

Never

90%

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

Indep

enden

t

web

sites

Profe

ssion

al

bod

iesPha

rma

com

pany

Gover

nmen

t

body

Charit

y

Once a year

Once a month

Once a week

9%

45%

20%

42%

31%

27%

44%

22%

37%

7% 7% 9%

39%

15%

20%

37%

31%

13%

60%

46%

25%5%

Guideline summaries

Drug summary

Algorithms

Single page detail

Clinical paper summaries

Case reports

Mythbusters

Video content

Multiple page detail

Discussion with rep

Prescribing information

0.00 2.00 4.00 6.00 8.00

ALL EU (1848)

7.28

7.21

6.76

6.44

6.16

5.43

5.65

5.87

5.16

4.93

4.78

Figure 4a: Usefulness of information formats

HoW doCtors sPend tHeIr ProFessIonAl tIMe onlIne


european doctors spend a total of 21 hours a week online, 15.9 of which are for professional purposes, as shown in Figure 5. this average figure breaks down by country as follows:

• Germany: 16.5 hours online a week, 10.9 for professional purposes

• France: 16.1 hours online a week, 13 for professional purposes

• Italy: 24.7 hours online a week, 19.1 for professional purposes

• spain: 26.8 hours online a week, 21.8 for professional purposes

• uK: 22.2 hours online a week, 15.8 for professional purposes

While these figures do not relate to how doctors prefer to receive product

information, they do confirm that it should emanate from the web in some form

because, to all practical intents and purposes, this is where the medical profession

now works.

And the data is useful in other dimensions. It reveals, for example, that spanish

doctors spend more time than other europeans using prescribing software, clocking

up 12.7 hours a week. this is almost three times that of their German counterparts

who registered only 4.8 hours and just short of 50% more than the european

average figure of 8.6 hours a week. the spanish also use the internet more than

other europeans in terms of searching professional information and are second only

to Italy in terms of using it to stay in contact with other healthcare professionals.

30.0

25.0

20.0

15.0

10.0

5.0

0.0UK

(318)Spain(293)

Italy(266)

France(380)

Germany(332)

All EU(1848)

For social/non-professional purposes

For contacting other HCPsfor professional purposes

Information seeking forprofessional purposes

In your professional role to use prescribing software etc

6.4

2.5

4.1

9.212.7

6.4

2.7

5.0

5.6

2.8

6.0

7.3

7.3

3.8

1.9

3.1 5.6

1.8

4.3

4.8

8.6

5.0

2.3

5.1

Figure 5: Hours spent online by EU doctors per week

In terms of using the internet specifically to learn about medicine, the attitudes depicted in Figure 6 reveal a general consensus to keep up with new developments about drugs (1% in disagreement); that online information is easy and convenient to access (3% in disagreement) and that online resources are independent and objective (5% in disagreement). nevertheless, it is interesting to note that almost a third of doctors prefer contact with a rep to learn about a new drug as this offers more interaction.


AttItudes to onlIne leArnInG

I am interested in keeping up to datewith new developments about drugs

Online information is easyand convenient to access

I trust independent online resources asthey are independent and objective

I prefer contact with a rep for receiving drug info, as this offers more interaction

I would like to use online resources more but I need to be shown how

I participate in andcontribute to social networks

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Agree

Neutral

Disagree

80% 19%

56% 40%

45% 50%

31% 52% 18%

20% 46% 34%

16% 45% 39%

Figure 6: Attitudes to online learning

“There’s a general consensus that … online information is easy and convenient to access.”

ConClusIons

european doctors have more confidence in pharma’s ability to improve the outlook for their patients than any measures to improve either patient management or patient education. they therefore have a strong interest in wanting to stay up-to-date on the latest pharma developments.

While pharma’s promotional material may not score well as a top influencer

of treatment, many doctors are open to receiving information via face-to-face

visits from sales reps, independent websites and downloadable content such as

documents, podcasts and webcasts.


ABout tHe AutHor

Dr Tim Ringrose, CEO, M3 (EU)

tim ringrose trained in nephrology and intensive care

in oxford before joining doctors.net.uk, part of M3,

in 2000. tim has led the development of services

provided to doctors and has had considerable

experience working with a wide variety of healthcare

clients to deliver market research, targeted online

communications and educational programmes to

doctors.

About M3 Group

M3 is a trusted global provider of information and

connections in healthcare, and has a reach of more

than 3.5m physicians worldwide - making it the world’s

largest network of physicians.

M3 helps healthcare organisations to access, connect

and communicate more effi ciently with physicians

and other healthcare professionals in order to share

knowledge and innovations. It also provides ongoing

data-driven results and insights, so that it can

continually improve its service.

For physicians, M3 provides dedicated and trusted

community spaces in which they can connect with each

other, as well as healthcare organisations - to learn,

access new information, and share knowledge and

experiences.

through its commitment to progress and its investment

in deepening connections, M3 will continue to

break down the barriers that stand in the way of

improvements and progress in healthcare.

Further information

For more information on M3 and its european division

which includes www.doctors.net.uk, www.mdlinx.com,

and www.networksinhealth.com

Phone: +44 (0)1235 828400

email: [email protected]

Website: http://eu.m3.com/

twitter: @M3_Europe

how do doctors want to engage with pharma on new … · 2016-06-14 · how do doctors want to...

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