PUNE, India, January 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ —Docplexus is an online platform exclusive to the doctor community. Physicians use Docplexus to interact with peers and seniors. They share knowledge, discuss complex cases and update themselves with the latest learnings and advances in the medical field. Says Phanish Chandra – CEO & Co-founder, Docplexus, “We believe that a more informed doctor is better positioned to make the right clinical decision. Our mission is to ‘empower doctors’ in a way that results in millions of improved patient outcomes each year.”
What exactly did we set to find?
Healthcare is one of the largest sectors in India. It is growing at a lucrative pace and is predicted to reach USD 280 billion by 2020. The prospects for digitization of this sector are huge. The Indian government is committed to transforming the country into a digitally empowered society and has launched the Digital India programme to this effect. Internet and mobile phones are integral elements of our professional as well as personal lives.
Like every other professional, doctors too are embracing digitization in full steam. It is essential for pharmaceutical marketers to understand how this phenomenon will alter their relationship with this core customer group. However, it first needs to gain a complete understanding of its customers’ digital ways. In the recent past, several experts have analyzed the online behavior of medical practitioners. However, most of these studies were conducted on doctors practicing in western countries like the US and UK. An in-depth study in the Indian context was the need of the hour. As a leading player in the Indian digital healthcare services space, we assumed this responsibility.
Why are we the right entity to conduct this survey?
Currently, Docplexus has over 1,75,000 doctors across 84 specialties of modern medicine as registered members. This lends us the title of being India’s largest and fastest growing community of doctors. Physicians trust our foolproof verification process and are assured of connecting with genuine Allopathic practitioners for the purpose of dialogue and interdisciplinary learning, all ultimately aimed at improving medical outcomes. Developed by a team of experts, our platform is compatible with the desktop as well as the mobile. Every day, over 12,000 doctors log on to Docplexus to avail our range of services. These statistics place us in a unique position to lend insights into the online activities of Indian doctors.
What were our key findings?
•Online media is the way to go – An astounding 83% of the doctors favor online media to cater to their learning needs with 72% claiming the internet to be their go-to place to know more about the latest drug molecules and related information. While the metros continue to be dominant geographies of online traffic, Tier I and Tier II cities and semi-urban areas are also not far behind.
A significant number of doctors access online sources to understand the best industry practices and healthcare policy guidelines. Indian doctors are facing new challenges, with aggression and violence against them rising at an alarming rate in the recent past. Increased litigation is another growing concern. Doctors find it easier to gain information relating to compliances, documentation, and certifications through online resources. Digital media are also an efficient mode of connecting and networking with industry peers.
•Rural penetration on the rise – An interesting finding is the inroads that online media is making in rural India. Social media in general has penetrated across age groups, education levels, economic status, and other differentiators in the country. A study by the Boston Consulting Group revealed that 120 million rural Indians are connected to the internet at present. This number will rise to 315 million by 2020. Around 70% of the rural consumers use the Internet primarily for social networking. Reliance Jio’s disruptive tariffs indicate that in the telecom wars, the subscriber would ultimately emerge as the winner. Dropping prices of smart phones, penetration of 4G networks and rising consumer aspirations open up huge digital marketing opportunities in rural and semi-urban areas.
The internet revolution is proving to be a game changer for doctors based in remote parts of the country. These doctors previously faced great difficulties in accessing latest medical news and advanced treatment options owing to their location. This compromised their ability to deliver the best possible treatment and care. However, online media now delivers all the latest information to their fingertips. They can register for online CMEs and KOL webinars. Such online services offer easy, real-time access to a variety of resources and medical advancements, all at great convenience. This is especially important for doctors in smaller towns and rural parts of the country. Docplexus notes that more than half of its members are from rural areas.
•Visual medium rules and personalization pays – Video content wins over text when it comes to gaining medical knowledge. The increasingly busy doctor is no longer interested in reading long articles in medical journals in order to keep abreast of the current happenings in life sciences. It is a proven fact that human brains process visuals 60,000 times faster than text. Videos offer an emotional connect and are a highly efficient communication tool. This is why Indian doctors too are partial towards visual content like webinars, KOL interactions, surgical videos, etc. Personalization is the key to gain doctor attention and keep them hooked on to a service. Rather than scouting for relevant information from the complete repository, they prefer that, the service understands their content needs and customizes its deliverables in an efficient way.
•The time factor – 75% of the doctors spend a maximum of 5 minutes online and only 10% dedicate 10 minutes or more of their time to online activities. This is a crucial insight for developers of online medical content and indicates that long, complicated and exhaustive articles are a thing of the past. Online content needs to be concise, clear and devoid of complexities. The peak surf times are when the doctors check in to their offices (10am), after the morning rush of patients is over (2pm), in the evening (6pm), and before signing off for the day (from 9pm to 10pm).
•Mobiles and laptops are the most preferred devices, tablets the least preferred – 78% of the medical professionals accessed online media through their mobiles and laptops. The convenience offered by these devices makes them the most favored by the doctor community. Desktops continue to occupy a share of 15% and therefore cannot be ignored. However, tablets account for a dismal 7%. Despite this, Pharma companies continue to bring out CRM and e-detailing solutions to be used by their sales reps on tablets. These are misdirected efforts which clearly won’t deliver the desired marketing outcomes.
Key takeaway for pharma
This survey indicates that there is no denying the rising power of online media amongst medical professionals, with practitioners using them for various needs ranging from knowledge upgrades to peer interactions. It is imperative for pharma to acknowledge these new dynamics and revamp its marketing approach. Pharma should stop using digital marketing as a buzzword and place it at the center of its marketing strategy. Partnering with the right online platform will ensure successful delivery of its marketing message to its most important audience.
How can Docplexus help pharma?
Using Docplexus’ experience and expertise of over 3 years, pharma marketers can tap a large percentage of doctors across the country effectively. Our data is our strength and offers great insights for pharma to execute targeted digital marketing initiatives. With nearly 10,000 clinical cases already discussed on our platform, we understand doctors’ content needs and the best ways to deliver them. Through the mobile and desktop versions of our platform, we ensure that your messages reach out to a majority of healthcare professionals in a short span of time.
Connect with Us:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/docplexus-online-services-pvt-ltd-
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/docplexus/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/docplexus
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7A_5fwNevqzAAfXoBqjAOw
Docplexus Reveals Online Habits of Indian Doctors
