Medical Monday: Making Online House Calls? Will The Internet Change How Doctors See Patients?

On Friday, Rita Rubin of USA Today posted a piece about companies of doctors who are willing to diagnose and treat common conditions online. The initiatives, such as “MDLiveCare” and “RingADoc,” are forcing state regulators to revisit rules about what constitutes a doctor/patient relationship (Monique Da Silva also discusses the piece on Ogilvy’s new blog on Marketing to Women, WomenOlogy).

With over a third of adults using social media to find health information, I’m curious the effect online doctor’s could have on pharmaceutical marketing. Do these new sites and platforms represent new direct to consumer (DTC) advertising opportunities? Will pharma start e-detailing these doctors as another avenue to educate prescribers? Or, does this new platform  represent new, uncharted territory that legal/regulatory will find too risky to engage upon?

It’s too soon to tell, but please share your thoughts and predictions.

Sources:

iHealthReports. The Wisdom of Patients: Health Care Meets Online Social Media. April 2008

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