Health 2.0 Taking Over
November 2009
By Joshua Slatko, p42

More than a third of Americans are already using Web2.0 to learn more about their health. About 35% of the U.S. adult population is using social media for health and medical purposes in 2009, according to a study by Manhattan Research. These 80 million Health 2.0 consumers create or read content on heath blogs, message boards, chat rooms, health social networks, health communities, and patient testimonials.

Though the Health 2.0 market grew substantially in the past year, social media still represents just one of the many online resources consumers use to get health information, according to Manhattan Research analysts. Also, the company’s survey results suggest that not all user-generated content is influenced by Health 2.0 media. But Health 2.0 consumers are an important group to watch, especially for brand teams focused on the therapeutic segments that rely on user-generated content more than others, such as patients suffering from mental-health conditions, fibromyalgia, and ADD/ADHD.

“While there’s no doubt that social media is a critical area for pharmaceutical marketers, it’s still just one piece of the puzzle for the overall consumer media mix,” says Monique Levy, senior director of research, Manhattan Research (manhattanresearch.com). “Our consumer research shows that user-generated content is an important influential resource for certain therapeutic segments, suggesting social media is more of a priority for some brands than others.”

In another study, Manhattan Research’s analysts found that the number of patients using the Internet to research prescription drug information has doubled to 102.3 million since 2005. Similarly, the study found the overall number of eHealth consumers, individuals who are online for any health and medical information, has also grown significantly during the past four years. This market now stands at 157.5 million consumers, or 1.6 times the number of eHealth consumers in 2005.

The major theme of the digital health landscape during the past four years has been the increasing diversity of the overall patient media mix. When faced with health and prescription drug decisions, the average consumer relies on a variety of channels and resources for information and support, decreasing advertisers’ ability to target a particular audience through any single media outlet.

“The savvy marketer doesn’t look at marketing in terms of ‘online vs. offline’,” says Mark Bard, president, Manhattan Research.
Today’s media consumption is so fragmented that brands need a well-connected, multichannel strategy to keep pace with the evolving consumer market. Additionally, marketers must tailor their brand strategies in accordance with the media preferences and behaviors of individual patient groups, as disease type is a critical factor in how consumers seek out medical information.”

Patients aren’t the only ones using the Web for health-related purposes. According to another Manhattan Research study, physician smartphone adoption rates are expected to grow significantly during the next few years will see the evolution of a more mature and proficient physician audience, Manhattan Research analysts say. With this shift, the Internet will become physicians’ primary professional resources. Mobile will become even more indispensable to physicians as they start to expand the range of activities they perform on these devices to include administrative tasks and patient monitoring.

“By 2012, all physicians will walk around with a stethoscope and a smart mobile device, and there will be very few professional activities that physicians won’t be doing on their handhelds,” Ms. Levy says, “Physicians will be going online first for the majority of their professional needs and will be regularly pulling online resources into patient consultations. Understanding the shifts that are occurring is essential for manufacturers, especially as many are reevaluating their sales model overall at this time.”

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