Ipsos Healthcare and Ruder Finn commission Physician Digital Outlook 2014 survey

Easy access to online medical information has made interactions between doctors and patients challenging, reveals the Physician Digital Outlook 2014 survey, jointly commissioned by Ipsos Healthcare and Ruder Finn.

According to the Physician Digital Outlook 2014 survey, close to 50 per cent of Indian physicians believe that with increased availability of medical information to patients, through online media, they face huge difficulty in consulting their patients.

With a sample of 650 physicians across metros, tier 1, tier 2 and tier 3 cities in India, the report investigated physicians’ online behaviour, use of digital and social media channels in the digital and mobile age.

The surveyed physicians believe that 44 per cent of their patients are overloaded with medical information, 37 per cent patients perceive themselves as experts and 38 per cent are misinformed about their symptoms and disease.

While face to face interactions with patients is still the most prominent method of consultation, phone calls and SMSes are now emerging as the more preferred options for doctors to communicate with their patients. Though, 93-98 per cent doctors use this mode to interact with their patients, 78 per cent of doctors connect over emails.

Dr Bharat Shah, Director, Global Hospital, Mumbai said, “Due to the widespread reach and usage of internet, there has been a truly phenomenal increase in easy availability of information. While it’s good to have access to internet for updating knowledge, most of the times a non-medical person is likely to get confused by it. It is not simple for patients to derive a correct interpretation of their health problems by simply reading/viewing information available on the worldwide web.”

Dr Shuba Dharmana, Renowned Cosmetic Dermatologist said, “Internet and digital technology has made both the doctors and patients, more approachable. Owing to the bulk of information accessible on the web, sometimes we come across very accurately informed patients, encouraging us to go back to our medical literature and keep updating ourselves by constantly learning.”

Dr AK Jhingan, Chairman, Delhi Diabetic Research Center said, “Internet is an ideal resource, provided it is applied in a right manner for updating knowledge on healthcare. It is also really helpful for patients if the information is filtered and is appropriate to their specific needs. However, too often, patients access information about health conditions which they self-diagnose and then bring it up to their consulting physicians, who then have to spend additional time explaining and trying to correct the misinformation that the patients accumulate over time.”

“The study explores how emerging modes of information and communications have impacted the doctor-patient relationship,” said Mai Tran, Executive VP, Health & Wellness, Ruder Finn Asia.”

Monica Gangwani, Executive Director, Ipsos Healthcare, India, said, “It is evident that with the technological advancement and increased usage of mobile and web media, our daily lives have been significantly impacted.. We are seeing the empowered patient and caregiver who want to know more and seek more clarity and knowledge from the physicians regarding treatment. It is also interesting to understand how this momentum is picking up in the healthcare industry, especially in India.”

Physician Digital Outlook 2014 survey also revealed that physicians from tier 1 cities are becoming more and more internet savvy, using internet more i.e. six hours a day compared to other town classes while physicians from tier 2 cities have a slightly low usage i.e. three hours per day, in comparison to their counterparts in metros. The survey provides insights into the online behaviour of healthcare professionals in India. As traditional methods of targeting HCPs are becoming difficult and with the increase of online consumption, it has become important for pharma companies to understand how HCPs are accessing information and communicating in this digital age.

The Ipsos Healthcare and Ruder Finn Physicians Digital Outlook 2014 is first edition of the physician survey in India and second year in a row for Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Reportedly, the sample group of this survey included a wide array of medical practitioners- general physicians, consulting physicians, paediatricians, dermatologists, diabetologists, endocrinologists, cardiologists, gynaecologists, radiologists, general surgeons, oncologists, nephrologists and intensivists.

EH News Bureau