Remote detailing for pharma – Physicians’ perspectives
By Tyler Hassman, CEO
March 12, 2021
The detailing of healthcare providers through virtual means has become a staple for pharmaceutical brands and is essential for any go-to-market strategy. When face-to-face detailing was put on hold this past year, healthcare providers began experiencing an even greater volume of requests for virtual interactions. For pharma brand teams, ensuring your approach to digital communications matches with the preferences of providers is important in helping your messages get through to your target prescribers.
In our latest quick poll, conducted in March 2021, MD Analytics sought to gain clarity around current remote detailing preferences and identify the components of an “ideal” remote interaction.
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We asked 202 U.S. healthcare providers, mostly physicians, to provide their opinions on:
- proportion of remote interaction invites that they accept
- key reasons for preferring one type of remote interaction over another
- barriers associated with videoconference interactions
- key components that contribute to an ideal videoconference interaction
Most providers told us they received between 2 and 12 invitations from pharma reps in the last month alone, and they declined 40% of these. Still, without being able to see reps in-person, videoconference meetings rank only behind email as providers’ most preferred method of interacting with reps. Specifically, they like the ease with which they can have a virtual face-to-face dialog without risking the spread of disease. However, the requirement of needing to be in front of a screen at a given time or dealing with connectivity and booking issues are still considered barriers to increasing their interaction with pharma reps using this medium.
Given this understanding, how should pharma brands optimize the videoconference experience? First, use Zoom. Providers overwhelmingly prefer this platform to alternatives, with 79% considering it ideal. The runners-up, GoToMeeting (28%) and Cisco Webex (23%) don’t even come close.
When it comes to meeting length, you’re probably best keeping it short. While a quarter of providers actually prefer longer meetings — 30 minutes up to one hour — almost 40% say their ideal meeting is 10 minutes or less.
Lastly, most providers prefer reps send materials via email before the meeting.
Our infographic displays these findings in a visual format that is easily digested to inform remote detailing for pharma. Feel free to download, email this infographic to your colleagues and share on social media. Contact MD Analytics for all your remote detailing market research needs.
Infographics may contain select findings from our Independent Studies. Contact us to find out if your organization qualifies for a complimentary presentation with access to the full report.
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