Consumers Seek Health, Safety Information Through Online and Social Media Channels
by Jennifer Haug, Associate Editor, DTC Perspectives

In preparation for the FDA hearings on Internet promotion and social media, Euro RSCG Life 4D conducted new research leveraging various social media tools and resources to ensure that the voice of the consumer was represented in testimony. The agency's chief digital officer Larry Mickelberg said the survey was deployed to more than 1,700 social media users, analyzing various inputs and conversations across leading health portals and other social media outlets.

According to survey results, Mickelberg stated that “90% of respondents turn online for broad health-related information and 89% of them trust the Internet as a reputable source of that information.” Nearly half, 44%, said that they would use social media for health information. Consumers utilize online resources to help them better understand the severity of a health issue and determine if they should see a doctor or visit a hospital.

A vast majority of respondents, 82%, have turned to the Internet for information beyond general health and wellness topics, seeking information about a specific health condition or treatment, he revealed. For the 18% that have not previously done so, 9% said they would if they had the need. More than 60% of respondents did believe “that their experience was positive in helping them feel better and more informed about their health,” he added.

Because consumers use these channels at so many points along the healthcare continuum, “safety is paramount,” Mickelberg said. Of those surveyed, 28% felt comfortable with the level of safety information provided in online venues; however, 35% said that they would like to see more. 85% of respondents said they would visit a Web site that included safety information about a particular treatment. He also explained that those consumers “are more than twice as likely to click on a link offering additional health safety information; conversely, one-third said it made understanding the overall message more difficult. “This means that there is an opportunity for all of us, particularly those of us who are agencies and marketers to do better for consumers in this area,” declared Mickelberg.

Once consumers find their health information, it often drives some form of action. Roughly one-third, 32%, said they take the information to initiate a conversation with their doctor; another one-third, 33% create their own health plan; and 18% share the information with friends or family for additional input.

• “Two-thirds of consumers who use online and social media report that doing so has improved the quality of the doctor-patient dialogue, that it has improved the overall quality of their interactions with physicians,” noted Mickelberg. “An improved patient-physician dialogue benefits everyone. It can lead to better care, more prolonged adherence, and of course, ultimately better health outcomes.”

In his concluding statement to the FDA panel, Mickelberg said:

• “Online and social channels play an important role in providing health information to consumers and maybe more importantly, in the transition from marketing's role as a purveyor of broad-based awareness to one of providing specific service and support to help consumers. More participatory, connected and patient-centered healthcare marketing is, we believe, an inevitability, and a good one at that. That means it is all of our jobs to give shape, quality and vigilance to these developments. This is perhaps at the core of these hearings. Consumers want safety information and they want it to be easy to find, easy to use and easy to understand. A standardized approach to the communication of risk information and safety information will, given the testimony you heard here today and will undoubtedly hear tomorrow, benefit us all. We believe in the strongest terms that the FDA should issue clear, unambiguous guidance and direction in this area. The people who have gathered here today and our thousands of colleagues around the country who pursue this work with passion for the needs of health consumers and professionals can be counted on to use every tool at our disposal strategically, creatively and technologically to ensure compliance with those directives and will innovate to support them. When we do that, healthcare will get better for everybody.”

Larry Mickelberg's Full Presentation Available - Click Here

 

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