Thursday, November 24, 2011

M cubed - Mobile Medical Marketing

mHealth is a term used for the practice of medicine and public health, supported by mobile devices. The term is most commonly used in reference to using mobile communication devices.  Several recent research surveys cite the rise in the number of physicians using smartphones; sources reporting that number is approximately 80%.  Physicians are using their mobile devices to access electronic health records, look up drug interactions, view diagnostic reports, and communicate with patients. We also know that nearly 9 out of 10 Americans own a moblile phone; over 10 million U.S. adults currently use their cell phones and PDA/smartphones to look up health and medical information.

Biotech/pharma marketers are in the early phases of fully capitalizing on this opportunity.  The road is unpaved as the mobile landscape is highly fragmented and there continues to be a lack of established standards from regulatory bodies.  However, challenge your marketing approach and embark into this space.  Here are some points to consider.

Determine your overall objectives of your mobile marketing programs.  Are you trying to get patients to try your product? to repeat usage? to refer a friend?

How will you enroll/engage your customer? Will you utilize your ground sales reps to sell the program to physicians? Will you sign physicians up at your conference booth?

How will you identify your target physicians? Conduct market research to understand physician segmentation based on their mobile device attitudes and usage. Identify physicians that are more likely to prescribe based on their mobile information sources.

Based on your product, is there a high usage of mobile devices among patients with this condition/diagnosis? For example, patients looking for depression medications tend to be high users of mHealth.

Before you begin, it's important to always consider the your overall brand strategies and your mHealth programs should be a tactical execution of your brand strategies, not the other way around