More Ways to Reach Physicians Online

Doctors dig digital. In a recent article published by the New York Times entitled The Rise of Desktop Medicine, Dr. Pauline W. Chen says she and fellow colleagues are finding themselves in front of their computers more than at their patient’s bedside.

Computers offer what a doctor’s “clinical acumen” may not — syntheses of clinical findings and measurements, complex statistical models and risk factor calculations. According to Dr. Chen, using these tools to help treat patients has taken healthcare from traditional, bedside medicine to desktop medicine.

HCB Health’s own Anne Pratt recently told us of the current mobile boom and its expected growth in coming years. Just as they do desktop medicine, physicians rely on smartphones to help care for their patients, with an estimated 81% of physicians using smartphones in their clinical lives.

Bottom line: doctors are digitized. As healthcare marketers, it’s our job to reach them where they want it — BlackBerry, iPhone, email. More importantly, we should reach physicians where they seek it — for example, in Google searches. Here are a few examples of digital initiatives we at HCB Health have created for our clients ready to embrace all that is digital.

Physician-specific websites

• Need the proof? The newly launched ICaps Eye Vitamins website provides physicians key clinical information about ocular nutrition in a convenient one-stop locale.
• See the system. The VASER Physician site gives doctors the ability to dive into informative, practical content on minimally invasive liposuction systems — the next-best thing to an in-person demonstration.
• Keeping up with the Joneses? Ophthalmologists can discover cataract surgery tips and techniques from their peers by browsing through a large video database on the INFINITI Vision System site.

Digital selling tools

• Hey, Teach! iPad applications such as Alcon’s LenSx Laser Test-Drive Experience allow salespeople to educate refractive and cataract surgeons with an interactive simulation tool.
• Knowledge at your fingertips. Touch screens — like one we created for the Ophthalmic Viscosurgical Devices (OVDs) group at Alcon — are prominently displayed in their booth at conventions to let surgeons drive their own experience of learning about the science behind OVDs.

Online communication

• You’ve got mail. Email blasts, particularly around a product launch or newsworthy announcement, put the information in docs’ hands (or inbox) in the quickest way possible. Email campaigns can be tailored to specific demographics and and produce measurable results within 48 hours. Medtronic was able to target interventional cardiologists in the U.S. with email blasts containing new clinical trial data for their cardiovascular stents.


VASER's consumer-focused Facebook page provides pictures of real results and plastic surgery facts.

• Poke. Like. Be my friend. Social media networks such as Facebook are useful for physicians to communicate with patients, see what other physicians are doing and even promote their own practice. Our body contouring client VASER has both physician and patient Facebook pages where hundreds have already given their thumbs up.

With doctors doing more online, it will be interesting to see how physician/patient relationships evolve, and how the digital trend develops in this profession. Take notice at your next doctor’s visit — when you get home you just may have a new friend request.