Pharma Social Media: The Many Hidden Problems That Pharmaceutical Companies Face From Pharma Social Media.

Pharma Social Media: The many hidden problems that pharmaceutical companies face from pharma social media.

by

Kevin Waddel

As patients get prescribed more and more drugs, they spend more and more money and must then do an equal amount of research to make sure they are getting the right medications and not being ripped off. These prescriptions are becoming more and more common also because lobbyists for pharmaceutical companies have often incentivized healthcare practitioners to do everything they can to prescribe more of their medications. These doctors and nurses haven\’t necessarily better informed individuals about the changes to their medications and treatment plans. Without help from their doctors, the population itself has had to educate themselves using the internet and pharma social media. Pharma social media has many ups and downs. There is greater access to information, but for pharmaceutical companies it has become of great importance to become aware of the content created by users. Since patients weren\’t satisfied with the information they received from their doctors, they had to take to the internet and create information themselves. Without any oversight, there\’s a lot of information, but also a lot of errors and mistakes. Keeping track of those has become extremely difficult due to the total amount of misinformation that exists and continues to be in play for the average user.

People that are worried about their health are constantly looking for information on new medications that they see advertised, discussed throughout pharma social media, and hear about from their physicians. Attempts at understanding these new prescription drugs and other pharmaceutical treatments are quite common undertakings across social media and the results range from highly accurate to complete myths that are propagated based on assumptions and rumors at best. Many times these rumors spin out of control and the companies can find it hard to deflect bad publicity once it goes viral. Those using social media for information regarding pharmaceuticals tend to be similar demographically, so information can often spread quicker than it would traditionally across a more heterogeneous population.

Television, print and radio still play a large part in terms of reaching out to customers. Spending on television and radio is still significant. In fact it is far greater than spending on internet outlets for most pharmaceutical companies. While true, it\’s also likely to change. For now, companies know at least they can control the message being presented over the air and in the paper. Those methods may not reach the most desirable age groups, but at least their message will not be twisted by the effects of social media. Still, the power of the internet is undeniable. Pharmaceutical companies know they have to deal with social media presently and throughout the future. This will especially remain true if physicians don\’t continue to paint an accurate picture of medications and all possible treatment plans.

Pharma Social Media

is a good stop gap that allows individuals the chance to reach out to other people in a similar situation, who are going through similar treatments, and can offer relevant advice. The problem is that pharma social media can spin away from the very companies that should be able to benefit from them.

Kevin Waddel is a free lance writer. To get more information about Public relations, Public Relations New York,

Pharma Social Media

and Health Public Relations visit

makovsky.com

Article Source:

ArticleRich.com