Originally Published IVD Technology June 2002
Industry News
Web sites increase market share, keep customers satisfied
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Dade
Behring’s Chest Pain Perspectives Internet site, at http://www.chestpainperspectives.com,
contains practical information used to market the company’s cardiac
assays.
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It's not exactly the dot-com bonanza that device marketers expected several years ago, but IVD manufacturers are discovering that marketing by means of an interactive, informative Web site can help them to reap the benefits of having a more informed public.
Dade Behring (Deerfield, IL) recently received the Biomedical Marketing Association's 2001 Dx Award of Excellence for its Chest Pain Perspectives Internet site. The site, located at http://www.chestpainperspectives.com, contains practical information for patients and healthcare providers, using studies, charts, and graphs to demonstrate the reliability of the company's cardiac assays.
"Dade developed the site as a tool to educate not only customers, but the general public as well," says Terry Thompson, market manager for cardiac market development at Dade Behring. "We have used the Internet to reach a broader audience."
This March, the site received more than a quarter of a million hits, 78% of which were from physicians and nurses. Thompson says this is not surprising considering the growing number of healthcare professionals turning to the Internet for information. "We've discovered that approximately 90% of physicians spend 3 hours a week using on-line services," he says.
In addition to healthcare professionals, the general public is also turning to the Internet as a viable resource for medical information. By 2005, it is projected that 88.5 million American adults will use the Internet to shop for medical products, conduct research about their health concerns, and communicate with their physicians and insurance companies, according to Patricia Malone, principal of Stratagem Healthcare Communications (San Francisco).
"The Web is very cost-effective and very timely when used properly," says Malone. But the key to keeping a consumer's attention is not only presenting the product, but also providing information that keeps the user coming back to the site. The more comprehensive a site is, the more likely a user will continue to visit it.
Roche Diagnostics'
site for its line of Accu-Chek glucose monitors (http://www.accuchek.com) has
also received tremendous response from users—more than 75,000 hits per
month. According to Don Dumoulin, vice president for diabetes care marketing
at Roche Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland), the site provides a way for customers
to stay educated about the illness. "We've received hundreds of positive e-mail
responses from customers who visit the site," says Dumoulin. "The focus of the
site is to provide vast amounts of information to the consumer, in an easy to
understand format, about Roche's products and the disease itself."
To further its
on-line presence, Roche is also preparing to launch an on-line diabetes management
program for use with its Accu-Chek blood glucose monitors. The Diabetes Assistant
Internet program, which has received 510(k) clearance from FDA, allows diabetes
patients to monitor, track, and benchmark their blood glucose levels. Patients
using Accu-Chek monitors can automatically upload blood glucose readings using
infrared or serial connections, while patients with competing glucose monitors
will be able to manually enter their glucose readings.
Dumoulin says an effective Internet site is beneficial to the company, but helps the consumer most of all. "Our site helps customers get exactly what they want and keeps them motivated to stay on top of their disease."
Copyright ©2002 IVD Technology
