Digital Drive Enters the Pharma Industry

Pharma marketers don’t understand what doctors need, and, worse, they’re bombarding doctors with drug promotions at the expense of more personalised content. According to a new research from healthcare solutions business Indegene, the Digital Savvy HCP, which has been following these interactions for the previous few years. This study looks at little under 1,000 doctors from the United States, Europe, India, and China.

It’s depressing reading for drug salespeople: 70% of healthcare professionals (HCPs) polled by the company believe reps do not properly understand their requirements and expectations, and 62 percent of HCPs are overwhelmed by product-related promotional information from drugmakers. Companies should only share relevant content with them, according to nearly two-thirds, to make the interactions more informative.

This aligns with some of the conclusions of a survey released late last year by Accenture, which indicated that 64 percent of HCPs believe they receive too much Digital content from pharma, and 65 percent believe at least one pharma business spammed them during the epidemic. COVID has raised more challenges, according to Gaurav Kapoor, executive vice president of Indegene, because HCPs and reps were limited in face-to-face encounters.He admitted that internet outreach could be excessive at times. He also suggested that pharmaceutical businesses explore beyond their own channels and forums and collaborate with other websites.

Educating doctors is only one part of the equation. Pharma businesses must also train their sales representatives.Companies should look for Digital knowledgeable salespeople and train them to be fluid and efficient in their use of Digital channels and material according on HCP preferences, according to Kapoor. While the pharmaceutical industry has made significant investments in omnichannel strategy, he warned that drugmakers still have a long way to go to attain customer-centricity.