Pharmaceutical Marketing: Understanding Generational Differences of Physicians

We all have clear experiences demonstrating that generations grow up with different beliefs and perspectives often driven by factors such as state of the world, economy, technology, and social trends. They all tend to impact the overall behavior of each generation – and this too holds true for healthcare professionals on whom our industry is so reliant.

With nearly half of the nation’s physician base gearing up toward retirement, and an emerging generation of physicians growing in number, never before has it been so critical to understand the needs, mindsets, information seeking and gathering behaviors and channel preferences of baby boomer and Gen X/Y prescribers. The habits of the Gen X/Y physicians differ from those of baby boomers, and it is important for Pharma, Medical Device and Biotech companies to understand how to best inform and collaborate with each for the benefit of the patient.

• Baby Boomer Physicians
  • They work hard, and invest long hours, weeknights and weekends in establishing busy practices and satisfied patients who refer.
  • Pharma’s contribution to education and support tools enables doctors to achieve better patient outcomes in less time will be key to this group. Understanding their busy schedule, giving these doctors the opportunity to access important information in ways easiest and most preferred will be important, and can include the use of their office assistant, nurse or administrator. Vast information seekers and gatherers, these doctors tend to be highly accessible through multi-channel media. The majority, based on a recent ByDoctor analysis, can be accessed using 5 or more channels.
  • While technology was a secondary learned behavior to this group, they have successfully embraced it into their worksteams on an as-needed basis, as a critical tool for gaining instant access to health and drug information. Providing these prescribers easy access to what they need, when they need it, will be key, and will result in a few trusted sources of integrated quality content.
  • These doctors will often work on weekends, so don’t be surprised if the best time to engage them in dialog would be on a Saturday morning, when the family is asleep and they are checking email.
  • This will not only be leveraged by them, but also by the other prescribers practicing with them under the group umbrella.
• Gen X/Y Physicians
  • Want the freedom of a work-life balance with a focus on innovation and outcomes that deliver healthy and even self-sufficient patients.
  • They are amalgamated to technology. They were born into it, and it is their daily life. It is in everything they do – particularly the mobile device.
  • Interestingly, these doctors utilize a smaller number of multi-channel media sources and vehicles to seek and gather medical information and knowledge than their Baby Boomer counterparts. They demonstrate the greatest reliance on medical journals and have the highest uptake of mobile. Direct mail is also a novelty to them, one that a high percent read personally when it comes directly from pharmaceutical, medical device and biotech companies.
  • Their trust of pharma is limited, so the provision of trusted, transparent and non-promotional patient support tools can be key for this group, particularly if they can access them (or get patients to access them) using mobile devices, the web or via a medical assistant. Getting face to face access to these docs may be difficult, but multi-channel virtual access can certainly be achieved.

While getting face time may be more difficult with either generation (and for varying reasons), one thing they do have in common is direct reachability through “cross-channel" communication. It is this very factor that will need to be integrated even deeper into the Sales and Marketing communication workstreams of Pharma, Biotech and Device companies – with a focus on delivering balanced information, services and learning experiences to these prescribers on their terms, based on their needs, understanding their preferences and ultimately helping them help their patients.