Survey shows US health care providers lack trust in drug-related marketing content provided by pharmaceutical companies

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media Contact:

Jo Detavernier

Swyft for Three Whiskey

jo@growswyft.com

Survey shows US health care providers lack trust in drug-related marketing content provided by pharmaceutical companies

DALLAS, TX (December 17, 2021) -- New data collected by Three Whiskey, an award-winning performance marketing agency, finds that the trust placed in patient information by primary care physicians (PCPs) and specialists in pharmaceutical companies leaves much to be desired. The survey, which collected data from 883 self-identified health-care professionals (HCPs) (N=883) in the United States to determine how HCPs in the U.S. use and interact with patient resources, discovered that patient materials, such as printable flyers and websites, play an important role in treatment practice. The survey (N=644) also investigated the role of patient resources in informing patients about the COVID-19 vaccination. Additionally, the survey examined how HCPs initially learn about pharma-provided patient resources and their respective formats to inform the public and their patients about topics like the COVID-19 vaccination; also addressed were differences in attitudes specialists and PCPs have toward the perceived trustworthiness of patient resources provided by pharmaceuticals.

"Generational differences in trust toward pharma-provided patient material among primary care physicians and specialists must be considered in the production and distribution of patient resources, as they serve different purposes for different groups," said Rebecca Wong, US Managing Director at Three Whiskey. "Our findings indicate that pharmaceutical companies will not be able to resolve trust issues overnight. However, it will be important to continue to produce quality patient information in multiple formats that appeal to a wide variety of generations, with the consumption needs of both patients and providers in mind," Wong said.

DO YOU TRUST PATIENT RESOURCES PROVIDED BY PHARMA COMPANIES? (N=568)

Hard copy materials still hold significant importance

With HCPs, the survey found that printable formats lead the way. Printable flyers are preferred by 28% of respondents for patient resources. Websites continue to be a popular format with 26% preferring them, followed by PDFs (25%). 

Surprisingly, providers from the Millennial generation are the biggest supporters of printable leaflets (32%), while Baby Boomers (21%) are the least likely to prefer printable leaflets and instead prefer electronic formats such as websites, PDF docs and smartphone apps. In fact, baby boomers are the most enthusiastic users of smartphone apps (25 %) among the generations surveyed.

WHAT FORMAT OF PATIENT RESOURCES IS MOST USEFUL TO YOU AND YOUR PATIENTS? N=667 (HCP)

The most important topics that HCPs want to learn about and refer their patients to are treatment options, drug information and disease management.

PLEASE SELECT THE THREE MOST IMPORTANT TOPICS TO BE INCLUDED IN PATIENT RESOURCES. N=700 (HCP)

Colleagues and Google Search are important resources for finding patient information

Word-of-mouth recommendations from colleagues and Google Search are the most popular ways HCPs find and learn about pharma-provided patient resources. The survey found that 35% of respondents said they learn about resources through colleagues while 30% say they use Google Search to find them. Patients were the third most popular way of learning about resources at 19%.

HOW DO YOU LEARN ABOUT PATIENT RESOURCES? N=647 (HCP)

"Our findings show that patient resources are important to HCPs in both the U.S. and the UK, especially when it comes to informing the public," said George Harris, Chief Product Officer at Three Whiskey. "As the upward trend in production of patient resource continues, those who create resources must optimize the materials so that HCPs and their patients find them memorable, simple to use, and easy to distribute. For a patient resource to be a success, it's essential to build and maintain relationships with health care providers and to deliver information that meets their needs in a format they prefer," said Harris.

Download the full report of the survey here. To learn more about Three Whiskey and its digital marketing expertise, visit its website: www.threewhiskey.com. 

About Three Whiskey

Three Whiskey is a performance marketing agency that blends digital expertise, behavioral insight and brand understanding. Working with some of the biggest names in healthcare, Three Whiskey’s mission is to help clients connect with more customers, more easily to improve patient outcomes. The Three Whiskey team is composed of experts in paid media, search engine optimization, creative, social media, UX, research and analytics.

###