Virtual Interactions With Pharma Are Here To Stay
By Rahim Shah, SVP Client Services
November 25, 2021
While the vaccination campaign in Canada has shown positive progress, the COVID-19 pandemic continues to significantly impact the way in which HCPs interact with both patients and pharma. MD Analytics has been monitoring these trends throughout the pandemic and we are excited to share with you our 4th wave infographic on this topic.
For the first time since initiating this tracking study, patient volumes have returned back to pre-pandemic conditions, as have key measures such are diagnostic tests performed and treatment switches. It is important to note that while most physicians feel that their workloads are now similar to pre-COVID conditions, many expect to exceed their current levels in the coming months.
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Half of the reported patient interactions are now in-person representing the highest reported levels since the onset of the pandemic. However, even when fully vaccinated, physicians anticipate 1 in 3 patient interactions to remain virtual in nature. While physicians expect in-person interactions to increase once the population has been vaccinated, they do not envision them returning back to pre-pandemic levels.
At this time, fewer than half of the physicians surveyed are currently seeing reps in-person. Even more so than patient interactions, physicians acknowledge that remote interactions with pharmaceutical reps will remain very common even once the population has been fully vaccinated, accounting for half of their interactions once the majority are fully vaccinated.
9 in 10 physicians report being more comfortable with virtual interactions relative to a year ago. Despite missing in-person interactions with sales reps, the majority of physicians now have a preference for virtual interactions.
Key takeaways
- What are the current and expected impact of COVID-19 on workloads?
- How do physicians foresee COVID-19 to impact their future interactions with patients?
- What is physicians’ level of satisfaction with the vaccination campaign and how do they foresee it to impact their practice in the coming months?
- How do physicians prefer to interact with pharma as the outbreak continues and beyond?
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.
Past Studies
