I have been spending quite a bit of time in the world of the doctor. Whether it has been actually getting medication or researching for a marketing report, I have been learning a lot about the medical world. I was perusing some content through Google Alerts and came across an article by George Koroneos at PharmExec. The article referenced a study release by Manhattan Research detailing the use of social media spiking about doctors by 60%. 

60%!!!! Holy crap.

Apparently the users tend to be female, primary care doctors, and smart phone owners. It made me think about the concept of pharma-marketing and an overall direct marketing strategy to medical offices and doctors. According to the study, physicians that use social media prescribe an average of 24 more scrips each week. 

We are talking 1,248 more scrips a year because of recommendations and the use of chat rooms and forum boards. 

What does that tell us? 

Viral marketing and word-of-mouth is working among primary care physicians. Now, this is interesting news for the pharma companies. The question is how can the utilize the information from the study by Manhattan Research?  Answering that question will be for another blog post. 

The importance of this study is that it shows a reasonable increase in the use of social media as a viral marketing tool. Doesn’t it change your perspective if you can see tangible numbers? 

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