38 percent of ePharma Physicians have seen a pharma or
biotech sales rep use an iPad or other tablet during a face-to-face meeting in
a 12 month period ending in June 2011, according to the new ePharma Physician
v11.0 study from pharmaceutical and healthcare market research company
Manhattan Research.
ePharma Physician study findings, however, suggest that
marketers still have a ways to go to fully leverage the interactive features
and capabilities of these devices to support a customized, efficient discussion
with doctors.
Key highlights around tablet-assisted rep interactions
from ePharma Physician v11.0 include the following:
Only one-third of ePharma Physicians who see sales reps
with iPads or other tablets find this experience to be better than reps using
other materials or devices such as print materials or laptops.
General surgeons, infectious disease or HIV physicians, anesthesiologists
and OB/GYNs are the specialty groups most likely to agree that sales reps
should use iPads or other tablets for product discussions during office visits.
In contrast, dermatologists and rheumatologists are less inclined to feel that
tablets are needed for rep meetings.
To date, the manufacturers with the highest reach in
terms of ePharma Physicians seeing their sales reps with an iPad are Pfizer,
AstraZeneca, Merck and Abbott.
iPads are all the rage for pharma at the moment, which
makes sense given the potential of these devices to support intelligent, nimble
sales conversations,” said Monique Levy, Vice President of Research at
Manhattan Research.
Unfortunately, some of the detailing programs that are
being rushed out the door are sub-par really no better than something you’d see
on tablet PCs six years ago. Doctors won’t waste their time with these,” Levy
added.
Tablet-assisted face-to-face sales interactions are just
one piece of the online pharma service model covered in ePharma Physician
v11.0.
Manhattan Research
will also be releasing its new Digital MedTech Physician study later this
month. Digital MedTech Physician explores similar topics as ePharma Physician,
including reps using iPads, but is designed especially for the unique
challenges of medtech marketers.
By Telecomlead.com Team
editor@telcomlead.com
