Traditionally, physicians relied primarily on local content sources for online medical information, such as DiarioMedico in Spain and Doctors.net in the UK. One notable exception of a site that has transcended the country divides has been the Univadis portal from MSD (Merck Sharp & Dohme). For years, Univadis was (and continues to be) the leading portal for physicians across Europe by providing content created specifically for the individual country, in said country's language. The success of Univadis has not gone unnoticed, and pan-European content sources for physicians are continually emerging and gaining traction among European physicians.

New examples continue to emerge. WebMD recently announced a partnership with Medcenter to offer its Medscape content to physicians in Spain and in Portugal www.medcenter.com/medscape, while United Business Media's SearchMedica www.searchmedica.com continues to expand its offerings in a variety of languages and specialties.

In order to successfully develop content to be used by physicians across Europe, companies must devote special effort toward creating local content in the local language. Putting upone site in English and hoping to gain traction across countries is a strategy that has consistently proven to be doomed for failure. With regard to reach and frequency, as the frequency of professional activities online continues to increase year after year, the forecast is that the demand for portals from content providers and pharmaceutical companies will continue to grow for years to come. Of course building a site and engaging traffic are two different things - engagement requires relevance, timeliness, and, naturally, letting visitors know you exist through appropriate online and offline promotional support.

Five Emerging Trends about European Consumer and Physician Use of New Media

1. Connecting to Physicians, on Their Terms

2. Leverage E-detailing as a Sales Force Supplement

3. Online Physician Portals Evolve into Clinical Resources, Beyond News

4. Empowered European Consumers Speak with Their Physician about Information Found Online

5. In the Absence of Direct-to-Consumer Advertising, Online Content Is Critical

For further information, visit:
http://www.manhattanresearch.com/2008EUTrends.aspx

Source: white paper derived from Cybercitizen® Health Europe and Taking the Pulse® Europe
© Manhattan Research, LLC, 2007