Emerging Trends about European Consumer and Physician Use of New Media

Taking the Pulse® Europe is a syndicated multi-client study and advisory service focused on research topics and trends impacting European physicians. The study was fielded by telephone among 1,000 European physicians from five countries: the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, Italy, and France. The survey instrument was presented in the native language of each individual country. Taking the Pulse® Europe provides pharmaceutical and healthcare companies with key data and insight about the evolving nature of physician channel mix, media and technology usage, and healthcare information with the goal of helping companies understand how physicians across Europe access health information.

In addition to the core data, subscribing clients have access to the Manhattan Research analyst team and the ability to request country-specific therapeutic and specialist segmentations.

Five Emerging Trends about European Consumer and Physician Use of New Media:

1. Connecting to Physicians, on Their Terms
Traditionally, pharmaceutical companies had a limited array of sources available to them to communicate with physicians - the sales force, dinner meetings, conferences, and sponsorships. But today's European physician is media savvy and interested in receiving content from a wide variety of professional information and clinical news sources. Read more... http://www.worldpharmanews.com/content/view/232/27/

2. Leverage E-detailing as a Sales Force Supplement
While the market for electronic detailing in the U.S. has reached nearly a point of saturation at roughly half of all practicing physicians, the European market is still in an early stage of development and adoption. In fact, only 15% of European physicians have participated in an electronic detailing program today, a number that has remained statistically stagnant year over year. Read more... http://www.worldpharmanews.com/content/view/233/27/

3. Online Physician Portals Evolve into Clinical Resources, Beyond News
Traditionally, physicians relied primarily on local content sources for online medical information, such as DiarioMedico in Spain and Doctors.net in the UK. One notable exception of a site that has transcended the country divides has been the Univadis portal from MSD (Merck Sharp & Dohme). Read more... http://www.worldpharmanews.com/content/view/234/27/

4. Empowered European Consumers Speak with Their Physician about Information Found Online
The Internet's role is increasing in the patient-physician relationship and having an impact on which treatment decisions are being implemented. Still, the physician clearly remains the ultimate voice on this front. Be they the "cyberchondriacs" or the "cyber savvy," consumers in Europe are turning to the Internet for self-education, symptom checking, prescription medication comparisons, and disease education. Read more... http://www.worldpharmanews.com/content/view/235/27/

5. In the Absence of Direct-to-Consumer Advertising, Online Content Is Critical
European consumers have been a longneglected piece of the strategic puzzle for most marketers at health and pharmaceutical companies. Yet, signs increasingly point to the degree to which European consumers are, in fact, researching health information and treatment options, and ultimately taking action as a result of those information searches - as outlined in the trend above. Read more... http://www.worldpharmanews.com/content/view/236/27/

Source: white paper derived from Cybercitizen® Health Europe and Taking the Pulse® Europe
© Manhattan Research, LLC, 2007

About Manhattan Research
In addition to Cybercitizen® Health Europe, Manhattan Research conducts five annual research studies among consumers and physicians in the United States and in Europe. These studies include Cybercitizen® Health US, Taking the Pulse® Europe, Taking the Pulse® US, ePharma Physician®, and ePharma Consumer®. Each study serves a unique purpose and focuses on specific aspects of information technology adoption. Broad consumer and physician research is complemented by targeted analysis among more than 50 consumer therapeutic segments and 25 physician specialist segments. For further information, please visit www.manhattanresearch.com.