Almost Half of Doctors Use Professional Social Networks

by Jaime Brewster

64% of physicians use at least one of the types of social networks listed in the chart, while 36% do not use any, according to the Sources & Interactions Study, September 2013 – Medical/Surgical Edition. This breaks down to 13% of doctors using all three types, 25% using 2 of the 3, and 26% using only 1 of the 3 types.

Other findings related to these specific types of social networks include:

• Almost half (48%) of doctors say they currently use a professional social network (e.g., Medscape Physician Connect, QuantiaMD, Sermo, etc.).
• About 39% of physicians in this study use medical association/society social networks for professional purposes.
• One-third (30%) of physicians in this study use consumer social networks (e.g., , , , etc.) for professional purposes.

Most physicians that use social networks choose to read and follow only as opposed to write and post, suggesting that they view these sites as another information source, rather than a platform to interact with colleagues or share their own expertise.

The number of doctors using social sites shows small increases from 2011:

	2011	September 2012	September 2013
Medical Association/Society Social Network	31%	32%	39%
Professional Social Network	38%	38%	48%
Consumer Social Network	27%	28%	30%

Kantar Media’s Sources & Interactions™ Studies offer a detailed examination of healthcare professionals’ online and mobile activities, e-detailing experience, and exposure to (and evaluation of) information sources including traditional and emerging media, pharma reps, CME, conventions and more. The Medical/Surgical edition, conducted every six months, reports on the media preferences and habits of more than 3,000 physicians across 22 specialties; annual studies provide similar perspective on Pharmacy, NP/PA, Eyecare, Dental, Radiology, Managed Care, and Hospital C-Suite audiences. Sources & Interactions was designed to help marketers  and their agencies cost-effectively allocate resources to their overall promotional mix, and provide publishers with specific insight about where their offerings fit into physicians’ (and other healthcare professionals’) information inventory.

To find out more about the study and specialty-specific data, let us know.