Can an EHR be an effective communication platform for pharma marketers?

With more doctors saying no to in-office visits from pharmaceutical representatives, manufacturers need to find alternative routes to communicate with physicians. Utilizing a multi-channel approach that encompasses traditional and new media is effective - but there is a third contender that manufactures should consider: electronic health records.

Why leverage EHR in a marketing context

Anyone who has visited the doctor's office in recent years will understand the centrality of the EHR. From the moment a physician opens a dialogue with his or her patient, the EHR system comes to the forefront, requesting and absorbing patient data and assisting physicians in their work.

Since the implementation of Meaningful Use Stage 1, in 2011, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services have placed increasing importance upon the efficacy of electronically captured health data. Not only do these systems serve as a repository for patient data, but they also facilitate many of the common tasks of the doctor's office. The goal of Meaningful Use - and the newly announced Meaningful Measures - is to improve the quality and safety of care, leading to improved health outcomes. Another result of the effort is the increased centralization of clinical data.

If it's not in the EHR, it may as well not exist.

Pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers need to take a close look at how they view EHRs in a marketing context. As noted by MM&M, the use of EHRs as a marketing platform must take a cautious track, remaining cognizant of how and when doctors want to see this information. For example, rather than pushing promotional content through the EHR, pharma vendors could accompany e-prescribing data with other relevant information about their products. The goal of this endeavor would not be to drive leads, but to generate value.

Pharma can provide detailed educational information within an EHR context.

How to utilize EHR effectively

When approaching the EHR as a marketing channel, it helps to think about how physicians utilize this resource to make prescribing decisions. A survey conducted by Deloitte Consulting and the Gerson Lehrman Group found that the majority of physicians consider efficacy and outcome data, in addition to clinical guidelines, as they make these decisions.

If pharma manufacturers can augment this data with facts about the drugs in question, physicians may be able to make more informed, quality decisions about which products to prescribe for their patients.

Ritesh Patel, chief digital officer at Ogilvy CommonHealth, has been quick to point out that these efforts must not merely resemble the same advertising tactics manufacturers use online. Doing so would cause backlash, Patel argued in an interview with FiercePharma.

"If it becomes the play of the banner ads, we'll end up with the internet on EHRs and that's not what this is. It's not just about product messages, but also messages about education or pipeline drugs or presenting data to physicians, which now goes to strategy," said Patel.

In doing so, the EHR aspect of a marketing campaign becomes a supplement to the actual advertising. Providing detailed drug education data within the EHR generates value for physicians, who can subsequently make better decisions about the medicine they prescribe. Meanwhile, marketing in other channels, such as peer-reviewed journals or expert-curated websites, serves a more traditional marketing role by increasing awareness and generating interest.

At the end of the day, EHR is a vastly different marketing channel, compared to print and digital. It should be leveraged as a support to those other mediums.

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