Physicians are increasingly turning to digital media as a source of health-related information to supplement their practice, according to data from the comScore/ImpactRx Physician Behavioral Measurement solution.

HCP Sites Account for Half of Physicians’ Time Spent on Health Content

In Q1 2010, 81% of physicians online visited health care professional (HCP) content destinations, making it the highest-reaching health-related subcategory among physicians. General Health Content, including sites such as WebMD.com and About.com Health, reached 75% of physicians, with Association sites reaching 67%. Pharma Support and Pharmaceuticals both reached half of physicians (51% and 50%, respectively).

When looking at engagement, HCP content accounted for the largest share of physicians’ time spent on health sites at 48%, and captured the largest share of visits to health content at 33%. Strong engagement also occurred at Pharma Support sites (8% share of total minutes, 11% share of visits), Clinic sites (11% share of minutes, 6% share of visits) and Association sites (7% share of minutes, 8% share of visits).

Medscape.com Leads as Most-Visited Health Site by Physicians

comScore analysis of the top health sites visited by physicians revealed that Medscape.com was the most-visited HCP site and the most-visited overall health site during Q1 2010, reaching 57% of physicians. WebMD.com ranked as the top General Health Content site for physicians reaching 20.5%, while NIH.gov led as the most-visited government site reaching 30.5%.

In related news, Manhattan Research also reported that the physician smartphone adoption rate is expected to reach 81% in 2012.

About the Data: The comScore/ImpactRx Physician Behavioral Measurement solution measures physicians’ actual online and mobile behaviors.

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