Technology’s role in supplying healthcare professionals with accessible medicines information
Looking back over the past five years, it's clear that healthcare professionals (HCPs) have faced incredible pressure and experienced some of the most significant shifts in delivering care and managing treatment plans. Alongside these changes, the way that HCPs access medicines information has also evolved, with most information searches now being performed online.
While digital availability has made medicines information more readily accessible, it has also brought with it new challenges of separating reliable and trustworthy content from all the unregulated and unchecked material available online. In high-pressure consulting environments with limited time, HCPs need quick, dependable access to accurate background information on pharmaceutical products to support safe, effective patient care and make well-informed decisions.
So, how can pharma become a more helpful partner to the HCPs who prescribe their products? And how can they ensure that the information being provided is not only easy to access, but is also supplied in a way that ensures it answers HCPs’ most commonly searched-for queries? Rich Cooper, CEO of Datapharm, shares his insight on what HCPs need from the pharmaceutical industry to improve access to reliable, trusted medicines information.
Where the challenges lie
Whether checking dosing guidelines and other clinical use queries, or understanding medicine interactions and contraindications, online searching is crucial to the clinical decisions made by doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals. Yet, there are challenges in separating the internet’s vast mix of outdated, non-validated, and biased sources that can easily mislead even trained professionals away from reliable sources of information.
One of the biggest challenges is the lack of consistency across online sources. Depending on where they look, HCPs can come across conflicting information about medicine dosages, side effects, and contraindications. This creates a real risk of prescribing decisions being based on outdated information. With the pharmaceutical landscape evolving so rapidly, with frequent updates and new product launches, the problem is only getting bigger. That’s why understanding exactly how and where HCPs search for medicines information is more critical than ever. Tackling these challenges will take collaboration across the pharmaceutical industry, and working together will be key to delivering practical, evidence-based information about medicines.
HCPs’ access to information they can trust
Research by EPG Health has found that most HCPs (79%) highly value online search engines to access scientific information and prefer to consume content on demand, at a time that suits them. Additionally, 74% of HCPs view global, independent, general medical websites as essential sources of scientific content.
Regarding the type of information HCPs seek, Datapharm’s analysis of the most common search terms showed that the top five categories comprised over 60% of all searches. These focused on questions around storage and product stability, side effects, administration methods, dosing, and the needs of special populations. This information is typically covered in products’ Scientific Response Documents (SRDs).
The medicines information landscape will offer even more opportunities for pharmaceutical companies that continue to evolve how they share information. Trusted sources are already making it easier for HCPs to access reliable details about licensed medicines. Examples include the Electronic Medicines Compendium (emc) in the UK, Drug Information Database in the US, and the European Medical Information Gateway.
HCPs need pharmaceutical companies to ensure the information they provide meets their needs. After all, medicines information directly impacts patient outcomes, and making it accurate, accessible, and up to date is essential for supporting better care and clinical decisions.
What medical information teams should know
Understanding whether SRDs adequately answer the most common HCP search terms is something that all medical information teams within pharma companies value. Cross-referencing information with the research provided by the emc, for example, will help evaluate where gaps exist and provide a check sheet to improve content provision. By taking this approach, companies can help boost the rate of successful searches and ensure HCPs find the information they need quickly.
Improving digital platforms is another step, allowing the industry to deliver accurate, up-to-date information in a more transparent and accessible way. Several tactics can help enhance the searchability of product information: offering more specific answers; including standard medical abbreviations; and using alternative terms for the same condition (for example, “cardiac arrest” and “heart attack”), along with grammatical and regional variations.
Proactively monitoring search logs and refining content based on user behaviour should become continuous. Additionally, adopting a more structured approach to content management can significantly improve search success rates.
A trusted partner to HCPs
Pharma companies can play a vital role in how HCPs access and interpret the information on their products. As digital search habits continue to evolve, pharma has more opportunities to become a trusted partner by providing information and making it easier to find, use, and rely on. By addressing information gaps and aligning content with the real needs of HCPs, the industry can support faster, safer decision-making and ultimately contribute to better patient outcomes.
About the author
Rich Cooper has 30 years’ leadership and senior commercial experience within the pharmaceutical industry and healthcare, including roles at AstraZeneca, AbbVie, IQVIA, and the NHS. He is now leading Datapharm on their journey of growth while executing the company's mission to improve the effectiveness, excellence, and accessibility of healthcare medicines information globally.
