Physician Usage of Email Communication with Patients Remains Low

by Jaime Brewster

Three in ten physicians say they use email to communicate with patients, according to the Sources & Interactions Study, March 2014 – Medical/Surgical Edition. This percentage has increased 2% year-over-year.

We also found that use of email communication does not differ by the age of the physician, but physician specialty does show some differences. For example, Diabetes/Endocrinologists and Rheumatologists are much more likely to use email with patients vs. Cardiologists or General Surgeons. Almost half (45%) 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.