Google is the Top Search Engine Used by Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants

by Alejandro Alvarez

When nurse practitioners and physician assistants need to conduct professional research online, the majority first turn to Google, according to Kantar Media’s Sources & Interactions 2013 Study– Physician Assistants/Nurse Practitioners Edition.

However, there are still differences among these two groups of healthcare professionals in terms of the other sites they use for online research. For example, nurse practitioners are more likely to turn to UptoDate, an evidence-based clinical resource that also includes a drug database and a list of medical calculators, rather than Medscape/eMedicine or WebMD. Physician assistants, on the other hand, are equally as likely to use either UpToDate or Medscape/eMedicine, which provides healthcare professionals with medical information and educational tools.

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 Physician Assistant/Nurse Practitioner Edition, conducted every year, is designed to profile physician assistants' and nurse practitioners’ media use in these areas of interest to healthcare marketers and media professionals.

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