How are Physicians Using Mobile Apps for Professional Purposes?

by Jaime Brewster

About 74% of surveyed physicians use a smartphone for professional purposes, according to the Kantar Media Sources & Interactions Study, March 2013 – Medical/Surgical Edition. How do mobile apps fit into a doctor's worklife. As more apps are released every year, that doesn't necessarily mean that physicians are using more of them. Some app categories show increases while others show small declines in use year-over-year.

For example, almost three-quarters (72%) of these physicians who use smartphones for professional purposes say they are using diagnostic tools/clinical reference apps on their smartphone and two-thirds (64%) are using apps for drug and coding references. Both of these show upticks from the 2012 studay. However, apps used for electronic medical records have decreased slightly among smart-phone using doctors.

Among tablet users, the types of app used most often on the tablet are Medical Journals/Newspapers/Magazines (73%), followed by Diagnostic Tools/Clinical Reference (61%) and Electronic Medical Records (49%).

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 21 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 manufacturers 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.