Findings from online health seekers

After 11 months of both qual and quant research a final report was issued to my client and I wanted to share some of the top-line results with my readers. There is nothing that I believe is eye-opening but there is a lot of good insights that wanted to share within the pharma community. Remember the search for online health is a journey with a lot of stops along the way.

Although more people than ever are searching for health information the search for health information is driven primarily by triggers such as a loved one getting sick or someone who has certain symptoms and is trying to find the possible causes.

Caregivers spend a lot of time online looking for health information for people under their care. They also have a lot of influence in health decision making choices and often feel overwhelmed with stress.

Health information on the Internet is often difficult to understand.

Health searches usually consist of visits to several health sites which may or may not include pharma product websites.

Top reason for going to pharma product website: ”I want to learn what the side effects are”.

More than 80% of people who visit a pharma product website are also going to visit a competitors product website.

Social media has a place within health searches. People often look to validate what they know/believe about a product via social media.

TV ads do not drive Rx behavior for more and more consumers. Research clearly showed that when people see an ad for Rx product they will do more research online if they are interested.

A lot of people will visit social media sites without leaving a comment or sharing content with others.

We asked ehealth seekers “would you follow a pharma brand online via Facebook or Twitter” and a majority said “no”. When asked why “I don’t know who I am talking to”. However for serious conditions like cancer we found that some people might be willing to engage a pharma company online if they provided information in new drugs in development and links to enroll in clinical trials. We also saw that people with Type 1 diabetes are more likely to reach out to others for help to understand the disease and learn how to live with it.

Fist place a majority of health searches take place: Google.

When asked “how does the health information you find effect your relationship with your doctor” most answered that they can ask their physician about information they read and thus have a better idea of what to expect.

Surprising finding: A lot of people are not picking up their Rx’s without first learning about the drug and its side effects. If they feel the side effects are too risky they will not take the drug. Second reason: My co-pay has increased substantially.

We then followed up with this: Since the FDA approves prescription drugs they are safe and effective and then asked them to say agree and disagree. 68% disagreed.

“Does direct to consumers marketing and advertising of drugs add to the high cost of prescription drugs?” A majority 76% said “yes”.

Should prescription drug marketing be more tightly regulated by the FDA ? ”Yes, 81%.

One aspect of this research became clear as we dived into the data: we can’t apply universal learnings and findings across all health conditions and treatments. How people interact and search for health information online is contingent on how THEY feel about the seriousness of the health condition.