Category Archives: Health information online

New drug websites allow patients to read about side effects

Posted on January 31, 2012 | 1 Comment

Web MD is still the top destination for consumers looking for healthcare information but today it’s just one stop in the search to collect comprehensive health information. Two new website allow consumers to search for more health information such as how many other people have reported side effects—and how your drug compares with similar drugs? But will they build an audience ? Continue reading →

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Posted in Health information online

Tagged Health portals

Why Web MD is in trouble and how to fix it

Posted on January 10, 2012 | 2 Comments

WebMD shares are down sharply this morning after the online medical information provider said it has terminated its search for a buyer. The company also said that CEO Wayne Gattinella has resigned; CFO Anthony Vuolo is taking over on an interim basis. WebMD has begun a search for a permanent successor. And it issued disturbingly weak guidance for 2012. I saw this coming a long time ago but Web MD can be fixed if they get back to some basic online marketing guidelines. Continue reading →

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Posted in Health information online

Tagged WebMD

Consumers still searching for health information

Posted on January 3, 2012 | 2 Comments

Welcome back from vacation. While you were out consumers are still searching online for health information and in all likelihood they are making their decisions based by what they find online and with input from their doctors (when they go that is). Don’t you want to be part of that conversation ? Continue reading →

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Posted in Health information online

Tagged Consumer, Digital marketing, Health informatics, Marketing

Less consumers going online for health information ?

Posted on December 27, 2011 | Leave a comment

Visits to physicians dropped 4% between 2007 and 2010 and the percentage of American adults seeking information about a personal health online decreased from 55.5% to 50% in the same period according to the Center for Studying Health System Change. For physicians, analysts said, the implication of the study is that when patients come into their offices, they are going to rely on them more than ever for help in managing their health. Sorry but I am not buying into this at all. Continue reading →

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Posted in Health information online

Tagged Consumer, EHealth, emarketer, Health care provider, Health informatics, Manhattan Research, Pew Internet, United States

Content marketing. Can it work in healthcare ?

Posted on December 5, 2011 | 4 Comments

There is a lot of talk about content marketing and how it be a key driver in brand marketing but does this apply to healthcare sites ? The answer to that is yes and no. No one site is going to provide consumers and patients with all their needs and we have to remember why people go online for health information. They go online when there is a need; they are not randomly going to search for health information on diabetes, depression or other health issues until they NEED it. Continue reading →

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Posted in Health information online

Tagged Search for health information

Decline in Consumers Seeking Health Information

Posted on December 1, 2011 | 1 Comment

In 2010, 50 percent of all American adults reported seeking information about a personal health concern during the previous 12 months, according to findings from HSC’s nationally representative 2010 Health Tracking Household Survey . The proportion of consumers seeking health information fell from 56 percent in 2007 but still represents a sizeable increase over the past decade, up from 38 percent in 2001. Continue reading →

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Posted in Health information online

Tagged Education, Health, Health informatics, HSC, Information seeking, Medical Library Association, Patient education, United States

Just 21% of women agree “I trust the health information I find online”

Posted on September 12, 2011 | 2 Comments

While consumers are avid seekers of online information about health, this doesn’t mean they necessarily believe what they find. In the Yahoo!/Digitas Health survey, just 21 percent of the midlife women agreed strongly that “I trust the health info I find online.” Given consumers’ cautious attitude toward the health-related material they find online, marketers must make forthright transparency a priority in the material they present in that venue. Continue reading →

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Posted in Health information online

Tagged Consumer, Education, Electronic health record, Health, Health informatics, market research, Patient education, World Wide Web

Making product websites more effective

Posted on August 17, 2011 | 2 Comments

The rise of people using the Internet has probably done more to make DTC marketing ineffective than any other consumer behavior. Yet with more and more people using the Internet for health pharma marketers have not evolved their online marketing to meet changing needs and wants of empowered patients. Continue reading →

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Posted in Health information online

Tagged Consumer, Health care provider, Health informatics, Internet marketing, Marketing, Patient, Pharmaceutical drug, Website

Providing a better online product health website

Posted on August 9, 2011 | 3 Comments

While the FDA continues to delay on implementing social media guidelines DTC marketers can do more, a hell of lot more, with their interactive strategies to make them more relevant to consumers. It starts with the realization that consumers are probably going to come your product website and that there is a hell of an opportunity to answer their questions and provide them with information THEY want in language they understand. But it doesn’t stop there. Continue reading →

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Posted in Health information online

Tagged Consumer, Facebook, FDA, Food and Drug Administration, Harvard Medical School, Health informatics, Mayo Clinic, Social media