More Physicians Are Emailing Patients

by Client Services

Thirty-eight percent of physicians say they use email to communicate with patients, according to the Sources & Interactions Study, March 2015 – Medical/Surgical Edition. This percentage has increased 27% year-over-year.

We also found that use of email communication remained constant for the under 35 age group of physicians but increased an astounding 54% for the 60+ group. Physician specialty does show some differences in use of email to communicate with patients. For example, Oncologists are much more likely to use email with patients vs. ER Physicians or General Surgeons. Over half (53%) of Key Opinion Leaders use email to communicate with patients.

The Sources & Interactions™ Study is a detailed examination of doctors’ online and mobile activities, e-detailing experience, and exposure to (and evaluation of) information sources including traditional and emerging media, pharma reps, CME, convention and more. The study is conducted every six months and targets more than 3,000 physicians annually across 22 specialties, exploring their media preferences and habits. 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.

If you need specialty-specific data, let us know. We study physician media behaviors and preferences annually across 22 specialties.