Marketing to Women: 3 Hours at Doctor Vs. 52 Hours Online

Posted on the 14 October 2013 by Jamiedunham @jdunham

New research says that the average consumer visits the doctor three times a year but spends some 52 hours a year researching health information online annually.

The average number of physician office visits per person is 3.19x.  Since most physicians actually spend only 15 minutes per patient, there is a role for other healthcare efforts to expand the physician experience through other efforts such as email, telephone care and even group visits.  According to the American Academy of Family Physicians, 63% of women want a relationship with a doctor that knows their medical history.

Marketing healthcare is really marketing to women.

Learning the behavior of women in these situations is important because women make the primary healthcare decisions in 2/3 of households.

  • Some 59% of prescriptions are ordered by women.
  • Women spend 80% of all dollars in a drugstore.
  • 60% of all doctors appointments are made by women for the household.
  • More than one in ten care for a sick relative or parent.

While many online search occasions are prompted by physician diagnosis, it certainly means that consumers are not getting adequate information from their healthcare provider.

The research, conducted by Makovsky Health and Kelton among Americans aged 18 and older, was focused on behavior related to healthcare and prescriptions.   We tend to go to pharma-related websites when we are experiencing symptoms (16%), after receiving a diagnosis (51%) and before filling a new prescription (23%).

Some 24% of consumers use at least one or a combination of social media channels (YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and blogs) to access healthcare information.

The most accessed online resources are:

  • WebMD – 53%
  • Wikipedia – 22%
  • Health Magazine Websites – 19%
  • Advocacy Group Websites – 16%
  • YouTube – 10%
  • Facebook – 10%
  • Blogs – 10%
  • Pharmaceutical Websites – 9%

Contrary to their search for health information, 33 percent of consumers have spent less than an hour researching information on the Affordable Care Act.