Healthcare professionals want to talk to you, but on their terms!

Today’s healthcare professionals are busier and busier everyday.  They are getting bombarded with information on a daily basis–evidence-based medicine, disruptive medicine, Affordable Care Organization (ACO)….  It’s amazing to me how much changes on a daily basis.  Can you imagine how healthcare professionals feel in this day and age in treating patients? It’s not only about treating the patient anymore.  Now they have to know about what each managed care is doing, how is ACO affecting their patient management and treatment, EMR, etc.  Control is leaving the doctor more and more.  So should it be so strange that a doctor doesn’t have time to see a sales representative to talk about the same drug they’ve been using for several years?  No, it shouldn’t.  However the communication to healthcare professionals is crucial.

The digital world offers endless possibilities, but with that comes pharma reluctance.  Let’s not even add all the reasons why medical, regulatory, and legal may have a problem with what may at times be an uncontrolled dialogue.  I get it.  It’s scary, but it’s essential to grow.  It’s as essential today as the need to nurture current business relationships and find new leads are to corporate success.  This is how people want to be talked to today.  It’s not about your control. It’s about theirs.

If you are fearful start small.  A recent survey came out that was conducted by HealthLink Dimensions. “Less than 10% of healthcare professionals use email often to connect to industry professionals.” Less than 10%.... so a vast amount of healthcare professionals use email to connect with the industry?  That’s a huge amount.  They want to be communicated with but on their terms.  They want information to read when they can, not by when industry says they should.  So send information.  Consider what you are sending. Content is still king. Healthcare professionals want to be educated and not sold to. That never changed–disease state information, patient education materials, CME events, etc.

Social media is a trend to start doing, and watch the growth among healthcare professionals. The growth is booming.  Become comfortable with the channels most used–LinkedIn, Sermo, Facebook and Twitter.