Most Doctors Are Not Using Tablet Apps for Professional Purposes

by Jaime Brewster

More physicians are using apps via tablet devices for professional purposes but still not the majority, according to current wave data from  Sources & Interactions Study, September 2013 – Medical/Surgical Edition. About 37% of physicians surveyed (and 74% of those using tablets professionally) use tablet apps for medical journals/newspapers/magazines, making it the most widely-used app type among the six studied. About 30% of doctors use tablet apps for diagnostic tools and clinical reference and 27% use it for electronic medical records, an 11% increase year-over-year.

Over the last six months, all tablet app categories that we study except for productivity/organization tools have increased in terms of percentage of doctors who use them for professional purposes, demonstrating the continued importance of this technology in the medical workplace.

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.