The Web is becoming more relevant to health seekers
Aug/26/2007 01:39 Filed in: DTC
Environment
Consumers are looking for health information on line that much is sure, but with so much information where and how much information is enough? Manhattan Research a while back indicated that credibility of information is essential for patients and consumers. Sites such as Mayo Clinic.com have a well recognized brand name that consumers may trust as compared to more commercial sites such as Web MD. However it is essential to look at how consumers are using this information on the Web.
It's about the journey
Patients and consumers tend to go to a lot of different health sites when collecting health information for themselves or a family member. The more serious the condition the more research they will do about possible treatment options. In addition to standard health sites like the NIH and more commercial sites like WebMD and Mayo Clinic they will also seek out consumer generated media to learn what others have done. Some of the most active chat rooms and message boards address issues dealing with cancer and diabetes.
Diabetes especially has been getting a lot of chatter online because of the events surrounding Avandia and new treatment options like Byetta. Avandia will have a black box warning along with Actos and patients want to know what that means and the impact on their lives. Byetta has been receiving a lot of buzz around the weight loss that seems to accompany treatment. With type 2 diabetes growing at an alarming rate there seem to be more interest than ever in treatment options.
Having a diagnosis of cancer today is not necessarily a death sentence as new treatments are allowing patients to live longer than ever. However with all the possible treatments and new medications in clinical trials patients can sometimes be desperate to reach out for anything new even if it's not approved by the FDA yet.
The learning process
There are usually several steps that patients go through to learn about health conditions that may affect them:
-What are the symptoms: Yes there are a lot of self diagnosed patients out there. Some sites like Web MD, much to the chagrin of physicians, offer symptom trackers. Enter you symptoms and possible causes emerge. As many baby boomers begin to feel the effects of aging they may think there is something wrong with them and want to research possible causes. The number one condition they seem to want an explanation for is lack of energy thus the growth in energy drinks over the past 5 years which can contain a lot of stimulants.
-What are my chances: If the condition is serious patients want to know how it will effect their lives. What is the prognosis and what can i do to live better ? Notice I said better, not longer? A lot of people may chose to live better with some medications even if it means living a shorter life than choosing to live longer with a poor quality of life. I have seen this first hand in the cancer area where a lot of people chose not to have second rounds of chemotherapy if their cancer come back because "the side effects are worse than the disease".
-What have others done or learned: This is where consumer generated media comes into play. Patients can learn from each other; the good and the bad. Take a look at a message board for knee replacement, for example, and you'll see that a lot of people complain about the recovery time and the pain that they had to endure during the transition. Patients will also talk to one another about side effects and inform others what their doctors have told them.
-Research and print: The final stage is to research the treatment options, including medications and print out the information to take to their doctors office. There they will ask pointed questions that can sometimes make physicians roll their eyes. Yet physicians should be encouraged because this is an indication that patients want to take a proactive roll in their healthcare decisions in partnership with their doctor.
It's critical for any brand to ensure that there is integration at all consumer and patient touch-points of messaging where allowed. It takes more work, especially online, but why waste the money on message development when your not in control of your message anymore? Many DTC marketers have not learned that yet and DTC marketing continues to be stuck in a rut as marketers do and redo Power Point presentations to inform management what a lot of us already know: the Web is critical to your business.
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