Healthcare professionals’ views on direct-to-consumer (DTC) adverts seem to be softening. Traditionally, many physicians have opposed DTC ads, believing they mislead patients, but new data suggest the tide is turning, driven by widespread acceptance among younger doctors and nurses.
The data come from a Tealium survey of more than 400 doctors and nurses who are involved in making pharmaceutical recommendations. While some respondents still think DTC marketing misleads patients and oversimplifies complex diagnoses, there is now a pool of healthcare professionals who see benefits to the practice.
Among the healthcare professionals who see value in DTC marketing, more than 50% of the respondents said increased patient knowledge of medications helps with diagnosis and 70% said it boosts treatment adherence. The upshot? Campaigns that create informed patients could potentially improve outcomes.
Support diverges by age. Two-thirds of people aged 25 to 34 have no issues with the practice, compared to less than 40% of practitioners aged 45 and older. The data suggest views on DTC ads are shifting. A survey published in 2004 found 10% of physicians saw DTC ads as a positive trend in healthcare. And, in 2017, another poll found (PDF) 51% of physicians were against DTC advertising.
Views on the problems with DTC ads have remained consistent over the years. Asked why they object to the practice, 93% healthcare professionals polled by Tealium said they worry patients will misdiagnose themselves based on adverts. Even supporters of the practice see scope to improve education, with just 21% of all respondents saying patients have a moderate or better understanding of advertised drugs.
As Tealium sees things, the findings highlight “the need for pharma companies to better use contextual data to inform engagement strategies that focus on educating patients in more depth.” The company, a provider of a customer data platform, concludes that multi-tiered, cross-channel campaigns that can be automated through a customer data platform can increase understanding as well as secure more trust and buy-in.