Healthcare First Look at eDetailed doctors' message to pharma.
Lots of doctors like eDetails, and it's time for pharma to make them a mainstay. Forrester's survey of 1,820 physicians who have participated in eDetails revealed that these early adopters find value in the content -- and honoraria -- they receive from eDetails, write more scripts as a result, and plan to continue participating in eDetails for the foreseeable future. However, 47% of eDetailed doctors say both that they don't want pharma companies to know their identity when they do an eDetail and that they value having a third-party intermediary to manage their personal information rather than dealing directly with pharma. Drug firms that build their own eDetailing platforms to cut fees and get richer data risk estranging these pharma-phobic prescribers.

So what eDetailing vendors should pharma look to for technology and services? Forrester's study of eight leading eDetailing vendors found that although the firms are remarkably similar with regard to features, functions, and the processes they support, key distinguishing factors remain. The pack can be separated by three key areas: branded versus unbranded positioning with physicians, recruiting capabilities, and analytics and access to data. For example, at one extreme, Group DCA stands firm in its conviction that physicians need the protection of a trusted intermediary, refusing to hand over its platform for brand managers to install and manage in-house. At the other end of the spectrum, closerlook has to-date only deployed its solution as an internal pharma system.

What's the bottom line for pharma? To maximize the impact of eDetailing investments, pharma firms must integrate eDetailing into their broader brand marketing plans. That means firms must strategically time invitations to top prescribers to get the biggest bang and test messages and timing with lower-decile, low-see, and no-see docs, to refine their multichannel efforts to drive prescriptions of featured products.

The uninsured are not technology slouches
Compared to people with health insurance, the uninsured are not technology slouches. In fact, 48% are technology optimists, just shy of the 53% among the insured. Broadband at home among the uninsured jumped from 7% to 10% in 2003, and 22% made online purchases in the past three months. As the uninsured move closer to the profile of mainstream consumers, health plan marketers must rethink their messages and mediums for selling individual policies.

How to sell coverage to uninsured consumers
No, the uninsured are not all low-income down-and-outers. Almost a third of these consumers are actively looking for coverage, and they are using technology heavily in the process. In fact, the uninsured are more likely than others who are investigating or applying for coverage to use the Internet for those tasks. Who are these people? They are pretty appealing prospects, actually. Active investigators of coverage are higher paid, more physically active, and more technologically oriented than those sitting on the sidelines. This profile is a good starting point for health insurance marketers looking to sell into the growing pool of uninsured consumers.

We are very interested in your feedback on our research. Do you have topics to recommend? Is there data you would like to see or technologies you want assessed? Drop me a line with your input at bradholmes@forrester.com.


Brad Holmes
Healthcare Research Director

Research Referenced In This Issue If you printed this email, get links to the research featured in this week's issue by going to www.forrester.com/go and entering the five-digit number of the report you'd like to read. Caremark Buys AdvancePCS, Gains Tech Returns (15825) Doctors To Pharma: Don't Ditch The eDetailers (15454) Healthcare August 2003 Data Overview: Uninsured Consumers' Technology Use And Attitudes Reveal Who Shops For Coverage (17088)    Highlight: The Uninsured Are Not Technology Slouches (32374) Online Rx Buying Goes Mainstream -- Not Overseas (16795) Pharma eDetails Work: Doctors Prescribe More (16798) The EDC Debate Gives Small Vendors Second Wind (32481) Wyeth Wisely Outsources CDM To Accenture (16796)

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