Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Fourth, social media can be synergized with traditional media to drive sales and
financial returns. Consider the following example of a pharmaceutical firm's social
media experience. In early 2011, Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) aired a new TV cartoon
commercial to promote Abilify as an add-on antidepressant drug. In this cartoon,
the main character is a white lady and her depression is represented by a dark blue
blob. Viewers, who found the commercial interesting, posted it on YouTube, leading
to approximately 10,000 views in a few months. Viewers also discussed this com-
mercial on Twitter and Facebook. Online buzz of this kind can heighten brand
awareness, drive viewers to the TV commercial, and also enhance the effectiveness
of TV advertising.
Finally, drug prescription decisions are made under uncertainty about the efficacy
of drugs to treat different patients and are associated with high level of risks such as
side-effects (Ching
2010
; Narayanan and Manchanda
2009
). WOM from peers is per-
ceived as more reliable information than that provided by drug companies. Social
networks offer a platform for WOM to spread boundlessly among people drawn
together by a common interest. WOM in social media, if leveraged appropriately, can
play a stronger important role to boost sales than that can be accomplished by
traditional media and deliver strong returns on investment (ROI). Different from
traditional marketing, social media is a platform for two-way dialogs.
16.2.2
Social Media Usage by Physicians and Patients
The healthcare industry in general and the pharmaceutical industry in particular are
not immune to the influence of the growing World Wide Web and social networks.
It is unsurprising that the Internet has become a critical component of how both
physicians and patients seek medical information. About 86 % of US physicians use
the Internet to gather health, medical, or prescription drug information (American
Medical News,
2010
). Furthermore, 65 % physicians search the Web more than
once a day. Other reports also show that physicians increasingly trust information
on the Internet. For example, about one-third of the physicians have made a change
to a patient's medication or initiated new treatment, as a result of an online search
(Dolan
2010
).
Healthcare providers are using social networking sites to reach other physician
colleagues. Sermo, the largest physician networking community, has about 120,000
physicians as its members (Sermo
2011
). Other physician social networks such as
Ozmosis, SocialMD, and DoctorNetworking report memberships between 3,000
and 10,000 physicians each. Physician-only social network is growing so rapidly
that it is likely to overtake American Medical Association (AMA) as the largest
physician community. Sermo even released a survey, noting that 89 % of physicians
believed that the AMA does not speak for them, less than 20 % of practicing physi-
cians are members of the AMA, and 91 % of them do not believe the AMA accu-
rately reflects their opinion as physicians (Sermo
2009
).
Physicians are moving online to share their voice, to learn from experts and
peers, to discuss clinical issues and to talk about practice management issues.
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