Physicians are increasingly using mobile devices for information. So it's important for health care communications professionals and marketers to connect meaningfully with these health care practitioners.
Finding highly effective ways to communicate is all the more essential when you consider that a 2008 survey of 4,700 physicians revealed that 70% use their mobile devices four to five times or more a day to get information.
At a recent Webinar on Mobile Marketing to Doctors, insights that resonated the most with me pertain to what we, as healthcare communicators and marketers, can do to help our clients leverage the might of mobile communications and connect them meaningfully to HCPs.
What do HCPs look for in mobile communications?
The Webinar participants pointed to the physician reality - Doctors have different needs based on their individual practices; they have limited time to find information, and have infrequent interactions with their colleagues. With those factors in mind, they want a tool to help them manage this reality. They want an always accessible, always open, ever-ready one-stop shop with integrated features. The winning shop would offer clinical information; social networking; journal summaries; guidelines and tools; sample ordering; medication alerts; adverse event reporting, and decision support.
For healthcare communicators and marketers to be highly effective in reaching HCPs in the mobile device world, here are seven practical habits gleaned from the Webinar:
- Consider the existing digital platform. From that, determine what's extendable and what can be built upon to provide value.
- Think about medical regulations - how can we keep up and navigate the changing environment.
- Keep portability top of mind. Make it easy for users to share the information.
- Provide information that is relevant at point of care, such as samples, vouchers, coupons. Patient education is valued as physicians look for helpful suggestions on how to relate to their patients.
- Remember that some HCPs will not have the latest and most sophisticated medical devices. Thus, the information that we relay should not penalize the older devices.
- Make it better, faster, easier. Because mobile devices are personal and lifestyle-oriented, users want easy-to-learn applications. Remember that the physician is using the hand-held device during practice, treating and consulting at work. Thus, the HCP expects immediate value, plus actionable tools and information. Cost also comes into play, because the user pays to get the information. Therefore, they have high standards for their investment. Any download that takes longer than expected taxes patience and can lead to the physician looking somewhere else.
- Ensure that messages fit the medium. Send bite-sized information and messages. With mobile communication, HCPs have less tolerance for promotional messages. We marketers need to dial up medical and scientific content and dial down the promotion.
How We Can Be Part of the Integrated Mobile Solution
We need to work with the brand teams and other agency partners from the beginning. Let's collaborate and combine our creative and strategic forces to determine what makes perfect mobile sense and addresses the needs of HCPs. Let's answer key questions, such as what are the basic mobile assets; what can we break into smaller messages; how can we weave in clinical nuggets; how can we provide smart links.
The shift from Web to wireless will continue to grow as more HCPs go mobile, and as med school students, who use these devices in their daily routines, become our physicians. The sooner we in health care learn to navigate the mobile map and begin to help drive the movement, the more effective we will be.
Tags: Health 2.0, mobile technology, Public Health
