The Future Of Physician Customer Service Portals - Report Reveals Market Data And Best Practices For Biopharma Companies

Main Category: Pharma Industry / Biotech Industry
Also Included In: IT / Internet / E-mail
Article Date: 18 Nov 2008 - 3:00 PDT

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Over the past year, physician visitation to customer service portals decreased while interest in using them actually increased. To help biopharma companies bridge the gap between the current portal landscape and unmet physician demand, Manhattan Research just released its latest physician module report, "The Case for Customer Care: Service Portals and a Successfully Integrated CRM System" as part of its ePharma Physicianâ v8.0 market research and strategic advisory service. The report discusses future implications for physician customer service portals and reveals market data and best practices for biopharma companies looking to reach target audiences through this channel.

"Physicians rely on a diverse channel mix to gather biopharma and healthcare information and fewer of them are willing to take face-to-face sales rep meetings - challenging companies to re-invent the traditional service model," said the author of the report, Meredith Abreu Ressi, VP of research for Manhattan Research. "Many have begun building full-service portals for physicians where they can access journal reprints, order samples, download patient education information, and even videoconference online with a rep."

"Physicians are not saying that they want to do away with the sales force entirely," continues Ressi. "Most physicians still want to be able to talk to a rep when they have a question, or when there's a new product launch - but if it's a routine question or transaction, they'd prefer to conduct those activities online, when it's convenient for them. This is really about providing physicians with a variety of channels to access information so they can choose the method that is most convenient and useful to them."

Report Outline

I. Physician Portals: Where Are We Now?
a. Trending and Current Adoption
b. Top Portals
c. Physician Demand for Portals (by company)
d. Who Uses Portals Today?

II. Developing a Physician Portal: Features and Physician Expectations
a. What Are They Using? What do They Want to Use?
b. Differences by Specialty
c. Features to Consider
i. Email Customer Service
ii. Live Video Rep or Call Center
iii. Integrating Medical Affairs

III. If You Build It, They Won't Just Come: Marketing Your Portal
a. Marketing the Portal Online
b. Top Portals
c. Selling the Site: Public vs. Password-Protected Content
d. Sales Force Buy-in
e. Closed Loop CRM

Accessing the Physician Customer Service Portal Report

Full access of the "The Case for Customer Care: Service Portals and a Successfully Integrated CRM System" report is available to clients of Manhattan Research's ePharma Physician® v8.0 market research and strategic advisory service. To learn more about this service, please contact sales@manhattanresearch.com or call 1-888-680-0800, ext 2.

More information about the report's contents can be found here.

About ePharma Physician® v8.0

ePharma Physician® v8.0 was conducted via online survey methodology in Q2 2008 among 1,681 online practicing U.S. physicians. The study and advisory service product has determined the leading online physician destinations based on the number of physician visitors as well as the content satisfaction of those who visit and provides in-depth analysis of top product and corporate pharmaceutical websites, health portals, online journal sites, specialty-specific sites, newsletters, society sites, physicians and Web 2.0, physician online communities, electronic detailing, Tablet PCs, online conferences, physician customer service portals, tech-enabled sales forces, physician CRM, and more. For more information, visit here.

About Manhattan Research

Manhattan Research, a Decision Resources, Inc. company, is a leading market research and advisory firm for pharmaceutical and healthcare companies. For more information, visit http://www.manhattanresearch.com, email sales@manhattanresearch.com or call 1.888.680.0800.

About Decision Resources, Inc.

Decision Resources, Inc. is a cohesive portfolio of companies that offers best-in-class, high-value information and insights on important sectors of the healthcare industry. Clients rely on this analysis and data to make informed decisions. Please visit Decision Resources, Inc. at http://www.DecisionResourcesInc.com.

Decision Resources, Inc.

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