HCP Channel Preferences: Data Shows Shifting Attention

You and your team work hard to produce compelling med ed content, but is it connecting with the right healthcare providers (HCPs) at the right time?

“If you build it, they will come” may work in Field of Dreams. However, if you want to attract HCPs (and not the ghosts of baseball’s past) you need to know where and when they go to seek medical information—before you build and place your content. To help pharma marketers gain a clearer understanding of how medical content is consumed, Avant Healthcare surveyed 401 US HCPs about their channel preferences.

The Channel Preference Survey asked:

• Where they went to learn about topics relevant to their work

• When they preferred to consume medical education content

• How they would rank 13 different channels/content types

What our survey revealed may surprise you—and challenge you to rethink your company’s med ed channel strategy.

Who was asked?

Here’s a snapshot of the 401 Sermo survey respondents.

What was ranked?

Respondents were asked to rank 13 different channels/content types, which fell across five broad formats.

What we found out…

We found consistent trends among all the respondents. Yet, as we dug deeper into the data, distinct preferences emerged among different specialties, between physicians and APPs, and between older and younger HCPs. At the same time, while the differences were clear, the preference scores weren’t that far apart from each other. In other words, it doesn’t look like HCPs are confining themselves to only a few channels.

Four overall takeaways:

1. Online content is king: Overall, HCPs spent the largest amount of their learning time—27.3%—reading online content in text form, with self-guided on-demand learning modules ranking highest among content formats.

2. Weeknights are made for med ed: HCPs are most likely to take time to learn about medical topics on a weeknight, with only 15% of all respondents saying they don’t consume med ed during the workweek. Immunologists were outliers. They may kick back with medical content on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon, with 29.2% saying they do so.

3. Podcasts are becoming more popular: Compared to previous survey results, podcasts are rising in popularity, especially among younger HCPs, who ranked podcasts fourth out of the 13 channels/content types. This trend will likely continue as the next generation enters practice.

4. KOL-led programs and videos carry weight: Although knowing your audience is key. Depending on the age group or specialty, preferences can vary from live, in-person KOL-presented programs to virtual programs or KOL videos.

Key points of difference:

Strong likes and dislikes vary by specialty.

According to three of the four specialties surveyed, a self-guided, on-demand learning module is the best way to serve up content. However, if you’re trying to reach immunologists, consider a virtual-KOL presented program instead. On the other hand, if you want to win over dermatologists, you may want to steer clear of a virtual KOL-presented program.

As for oncologists, rather than sending a sales rep on a visit, you may want to invest in a live KOL-presented program. Oncologists aren’t alone—other specialties surveyed also ranked a sales rep visit low on their lists.

Top Three Content Formats by Specialty

Least Preferred Content Format by Specialty

Physicians and APPs consume content differently.

It only makes sense, considering their different professional responsibilities and the fact that APPs skew younger, with 19.56% of the surveyed APPs born after 1996 vs. just 3.62% of the surveyed physicians.

What HCPs value in content differs between older and younger generations.

What’s more important? Is it hearing from a KOL who’s trusted and known or discovering a new insight during a rare moment of downtime? It may depend on which generation you ask. Those born in 1980 or earlier consistently ranked content that focused on KOL interactions higher than their younger colleagues who were born in 1981 or later. Although both groups ranked live, in-person KOL-presented programs as one of their top five content formats, virtual KOL programs and KOL videos ranked much lower with younger HCPs compared to older HCPs.

By contrast, younger generations favored content that helps them make the most of their time—like a one-page downloadable, an article or blog-like content, or a podcast, which is easy to listen to while you are taking a run at the end of the day or going on an errand.

While 47% of today’s doctors are 55 or older,¹ these preferences will likely change over the next decade, given that a significant number of the population will start to retire. In other words, what works to attract the attention of HCPs today may not in the not-so-distant future.

Top Five Content Formats by Age Group

Is it time for you to switch up your channel strategy?

That depends on which content formats you’re currently using and which HCPs you’re trying to reach. Just like consumer-facing media, the med ed space is splintered. There are a plethora of channels and outlets to choose from. Still, like consumer audiences, HCPs have their favorite go-tos, as the survey data demonstrates. However, it’s important to remember that the survey’s close preference scores indicate that HCPs aren’t limiting themselves to just their top channels. In turn, while your channel strategy should incorporate the leading preferences of your target audience, it shouldn’t be a case of going “all in” on a single channel. Think strategically about where your target audience is and where it’s heading in the future.

If you build it, they will come—when your med ed content is designed and placed where your audience goes to learn about medical information.

Make sure your audience is tuning in.

Avant Healthcare can help you pinpoint where and when your target HCPs are tuning in—so your content can fully channel their attention. Contact us today!

HCP Channel Preference Survey Methodology

Taking place in March and April 2024, our HCP Channel Preferences Survey queried 401 physicians, nurse practitioners (NPs), and physician assistants (PAs), who worked in either dermatology, immunology, neurology, or oncology and represented four different generations of HCPs in practice today.