“Cyberchondriacs” on the rise – The number of people who go online for healthcare information continues to increase
The latest Harris Poll (aug. 2010), finds that the number of people that use the Internet to look for information about health topics continue to increase. This year the number has jumped to 175 million from 154 million last year. Furthermore, frequency of usage has also increased. Fully 32% of all adults who are online say they look for health information “often,” compared to 22% last year. The poll also finds that very few Cyberchondriacs are dissatisfied with their ability to find what they want online. Only 9% report that they were somewhat (6%) or very (3%) unsuccessful. And only 8% believe that the information they found was unreliable.
53% of all Cyberchondriacs report that they have
discussed information they found online with their doctors and the 51% say they have searched for information on the Internet
based on discussions with their doctors.
Physicians & iPads
A recent report from Manhattan Research indicates that the number of physicians who own smartphones will increase from 64% to 81% by 2012. An impressive share of ePharma physicians have either already bought the iPad or plan to buy one within the next six months.
Find below top professional activities done by physicians on the iPad :
- Using prescription dosage calculator
- Writing or entering clinical notes
- Checking formulary status
- Reading articles or abstracts
- Accessing websites intended for physicians (e.g. Medscape, etc.)
- Reading treatment guidelines
- Using clinical/medical references
- Screening algorithms
- Read medical news
- Accessing patient education information
- Accessing drug reference database
- Watching videos
- Using professional social networking sites
- Using health/medical apps
What Percentage of Health Care Providers Recommend Health Websites to Patients?
Eighty-three percent of online registered nurses (RN) and advanced practice registered nurses (APRN) report recommending health-related websites to patients in 2010, compared with 59% of online physicians, according to a new Manhattan Research report.
The study also found that nearly 90% of online RNs and APRNs visited a pharmaceutical, biotechnology or device website in the past 12 months.
Click here to read more.
Pet Health Spending in US to Surpass $33 Billion in 2014
According to a new research from The Freedonia Group, "total spending on pet health products and services is expected to advance 6.5 percent annually to $33.1 billion in 2014." The total number of pets in the U.S. will be more than 200 million in 2014.(62% of total households will own at least one pet by the end of the forecast period). In terms of retail, consumers are projected to spend approximately $11.7 billion on pet health products.
Insight from the Publicis Healthware WebMonitor
5.53 is the Average time per person on health related websites.
