Garth Sundem   00:00

Welcome to this episode of the Medical Affairs Professional Society podcast series: “Elevate”. I’m your host Garth Sundem, Communications Director at MAPS. And today we’re talking about the results of an HCP engagement survey conducted by Wiley. Joining us are Angie List, Corporate Solutions Director, APAC, at Wiley and Harriet Jeckells, Senior Director of Content, Products and Events at Wiley. This episode is sponsored by Wiley. So, Angie, I feel like people were rambling during the pandemic to figure out what in the world was going on with HCP engagement. Can you tell us about this study? Why now? And what you did?

Angie List   00:45

Yeah, absolutely. Thanks, guys. So look, most people would be familiar with Wiley as a global leader in research and education. As we’ve been doing that very successfully for about 200 years, we have extensive expertise in scientific publishing, and deep connections with researchers and societies across the globe. In fact, we are the largest society publisher in the world, producing over 430 journals for more than 300 society partners. So each week, we have about 6.2 million unique visits to Wiley Online Library. And a significant number of those are healthcare professionals, who look to us to provide the evidence based research insights they need to make better clinical decisions. So the passion and expertise of the Corporate Solutions division of Wiley though, which I’m a part of, is to support pharma and med tech corporations to implement key educational initiatives by leveraging these connections with societies and medical experts to build credible, relevant and engaging content. And then leveraging our deep insights into how this information is consumed by healthcare for patients professional sorry, to ensure the content has maximum reach and impact. And this is where the survey comes in.

Garth Sundem   02:00

Right, so you’ve got these people coming to you anyway, for the journal content and the other content. And so why not leverage those people coming to you to learn about them? Alright, so…

Angie List   02:13

Exactly and how are they using this information? And it’s not something that we’ve only done since the pandemic, it’s actually something that we’ve done quite regularly, because it’s critical to us to understand the evolving content needs of HCPs. But prior to and since the pandemic, to ensure that when we’re planning initiatives designed to educate and engage them, we’ve got that right content preferences there.

Garth Sundem   02:34

Oh, interesting. So you, is this a survey methodology that you have used over time? Well, we’ll get into the results. But what I’m wondering is if this is a kind of a longitudinal ongoing thing, and since it’s been going on since before the pandemic, if maybe we can see some changes, more of a video or movie than a snapshot?

Angie List   02:59

Yeah, absolutely. There it is something that we have been doing for a while there are some nuances to it, we do change some of the questions or build in some more information, depending on the results. But absolutely, we are able now to see a bit of a pattern in what’s happening. Well, so So, so how we did it. Good. I was just gonna say Good, good insight into how we did it. So before so from December 2022 to May 2023, we surveyed nearly 1000 healthcare professionals globally. They were collected from respondent from Wiley Online Library visitors during that period. We also conducted a supplementary paid clinician panel, which was was conducted by EMI research solutions, which is a well known market research organization. Now, of the respondents, the sample was roughly representative of the overall universe of the healthcare professional in terms of things like gender, age, region, practice setting and specialty. And when we looked at the results right down to a regional level, their behavior and preferences of HCPs are largely consistent no matter where they are located in the world, which was really interesting.

Garth Sundem   04:04

That is really interesting. And so maybe let’s turn to start talking about some of the results. Harriet, what, what jumped out at you from this survey? And by the way, Angie, I’m surprised by a lot of that, and I want to follow up on it, especially in the APAC region. I’d be interested to know if HCP preferences differ Deb and Harriet, what what jumped out at you from this? Yeah,

Harriet Jeckells   04:28

sure. So one of the first things and you know, and she was much closer on the survey side, but one of the first things that came through or one of the biggest things that is that HCPs are really overwhelmed. So I think whether you’re an HCP or not, that’s something that you can really relate to. And I think from my perspective, in terms of delivering content, projects, products and events, to HCPs and making that information as meaningful and as relevant as possible, that’s really key. But how do you do that when The pace of change is so fast and the demands of the job are so high that it’s really hard to find that time to keep up with the information. So that’s kind of reinforces our methodology. And I think, with a lot of the projects that we deliver, so a project might be, for example, a Knowledge Hub, which is a website dedicated to quite a niche topics, for example, it could be HIV specialists, it can be specifically dedicated to them and all of the top topics from a research perspective that we’re looking at. And then we take that research those articles, and we create content assets, that will be really helpful. So I think, how we’re providing that information, and it’s not necessarily a lot of the time, we tend to think about launch, you know, making a big impact at launch. And that is less important. And actually the long game, giving people a place that they can come that they trust is there consistently month in month out with fresh content drops. And those repeat visitors coming back again, and again, to a place where there’s brand new information, they can keep up with the pace of change, and the information is there and they can spend hours, or literally just 15 minutes dependent on that time that they have. So I think we are looking at those survey results and, and what we’re hearing and what we’re hearing from pharmaceutical companies as well, and what they want to deliver and how they want to engage. And then we facilitate and bridge that gap on both sides.

Garth Sundem   06:31

You know, that’s interesting, a lot of our listeners will be deeply involved in the creation and launch of their own knowledge hubs. I mean, you’re effectively delivering information in a way that a lot of Medical Affairs departments are delivering information. And so your learnings seem very relevant. And what I think I’m hearing is that, you know, niche might be the way of the future. So a very targeted community.

Harriet Jeckells   06:59

Yeah. And I think if you try and create a hub that appeals to a very broad spectrum of healthcare professionals, you actually end up with something that doesn’t tend to be that useful for many people, or they’ve got to search for the things within there that are useful. And then again, you’re back to that overwhelm, rather than being very clear of this is our specific objective, this is the area that we’re covering. And this is how we’re helping to do that in a really intuitive way that kind of gives you the information that you need when you need it on your terms. I think that’s the important thing. It being on the healthcare professionals terms and about the gaps that they have, that they’re looking to fill rather than the other way around.

Garth Sundem   07:44

Interesting. So you, it’s not hey, come to Wiley and you’ll find everything you need. It’s it’s, Hey, you know, you targeted population, we are reaching out to you to let you know exactly where to come within our ecosystem, to find exactly what you need.

Harriet Jeckells   08:00

Exactly. And more than that, as well, we really try not to be on transmit, we try to really focus rather than on out of bounds on inbound. So when they’re looking ping, they’re at the right time in the right place with the information that they’re looking for. Obviously, we communicate out that we really don’t do that a lot, we really try and fit in with the way that they’re searching for information so that we can be there to be helpful when they need it. And we’re collaborating on most of these projects, or a lot of the projects with Medical Affairs professionals who have very, very similar goals. So it works really well.

Garth Sundem   08:36

Angie, did you did you want to add…

Angie List   08:38

Yeah, I was gonna say it all goes back to how healthcare professionals search for information. And what comes out in the survey results is that they’re actively looking for information, more than a third are looking for it on a daily basis. 80% are looking for actively searching out clinical information, at least weekly. So we know they’re out there looking for it. But then the challenge they’ve got is that the amount of medical information out there is so so, so vast, it said that a medical specialist would need to read for 21 hours a day straight to keep up with the medical information. And I think I saw the same expression on your face. The last time I mentioned that stat to you. It’s absolutely overwhelming. They’re saying medical information is doubling every two to three months. So healthcare professionals are trying they’re out there looking for the information. There’s so much information out there. The other challenge that came out of this survey is that HCPs are really overwhelmed with trying to assess credibility of content. So really ensuring that they trust where that information has come from. That it’s comes from a validated source. And this is where we sort of come in so we’re we’re working with the way they’re searching for information already helping to distill the right information, the most relevant and credible information that they’re looking for, and helping to surface that more quickly.

Harriet Jeckells   10:00

Yeah, sorry, can I just build on Angie’s point there? I think that that is another thing like working with Angie and the teams delivering the survey that’s really at the forefront of our minds in terms of that authority, gravitas, credibility within the marketplace. And now we can work with Medical Affairs professionals to help them bring that. So through projects, we do that there’s quite a few different ways we do it. Sometimes we do all of these things together, but often it’s tapping on one or two. So obviously, the content that we’re delivering, even if it’s kind of something a bit lighter, like an infographic is based on peer reviewed content and adaptation of those. But normally, with something like a Knowledge Hub that I mentioned previously, the first step of that, for us is forming an editorial panel dedicated to that project. So that all of the content, that’s the starting point for the development, and we’ve got that steering group throughout, we often have society endorsement involved. And as Angie mentioned before, we have a lot of societies that we can tap as widely. And then we do do CME projects as well. So another kind of lane, but that accreditation can be really important and is often really important to the health care professionals themselves. I think another element of this credibility, and it’s not necessarily just the peer reviewed element is the religion. ality of it. So what we see as well is how relevant something is, say, for example, particularly in digital events, for example, it’s really important that their Kol aligns with the region for the audience. And that will see a huge draw and difference because a lot of our projects are global, based on where the Kol is from the perception is this is much more relevant to me, because it’s speaking specifically to my patients in country X or in Region X. So that’s the other part of it in terms of being authoritative, that can be regionally as well as from a peer review perspective.

Garth Sundem   12:01

Credibility, that seems like a big theme, were there, were there any, I don’t know. I can imagine in an HCP survey, you wouldn’t necessarily look at why HCPs would consume specific kinds of information. And thus, dig deeper into credibility. It’s more about how they consume it, whatever. But credibility seems to be coming up as a big theme. Wiley. Wiley, doesn’t seem like you’d have challenges with that, because you’re Wiley, and you’ve been there for 200 years, and everyone knows you. But you’re saying also that you’re the source of your content and has to represent your audience. And you’re saying that regionally. But let’s, let’s go back to transmit. So Harriet, you said something earlier that I thought was interesting. You said, you don’t always want to be on transmit. Now, once again, while he probably doesn’t have to be in transmit, because people already know to come to you. People don’t always know to come to the pharma companies do they different do do pharma companies need to be more in transmit, and I’m wondering if this is just a, if this is just a takeaway for a Wiley, you know, or a Harriet or if this is a takeaway for everyone that we shouldn’t be on transmit?

Harriet Jeckells   13:19

You know, I think it is probably more of a takeaway, you know, my background, and I come from a marketing background. So you know, that engagement for inbound marketing, if you’re catching someone in their journey, and they’re already thinking about a specific subject, and they’re searching for it, and then you are there to help them that’s much more effective than their online doing their grocery shopping, and you suddenly ping them and say, Hey, look at this latest research on X, Y, Zed. So I think there’s definitely a balance between the two. And it’s always great to do both. But I do think that being in the right place at the right time, so you’re easily discoverable when it’s needed is much better than constantly messaging people repetitively about the same thing when they’re just not in that headspace at the moment. I think it’s really easy to think about healthcare professionals just as healthcare professionals, but obviously, you know, they’re also foodies, they’ve got families, they’re watching Netflix, they don’t want to constantly been bombarded with your emails at any time of day. So there’s, that is really front of mind for me in terms of how we communicate, and we do that in a pace that it’s self paced, so that they can be on their own journey on their own terms.

Garth Sundem   14:33

Of course. Yeah, go ahead, Angie.

Angie List   14:36

Yeah, I was gonna say the other thing that’s important is really ensuring that it’s easy that their content that they are looking for, is easier to find, and it’s easier to consume as well. So, you know, it’s about ensuring that articles that are published on Wiley Online Library we can you do things like article enhancements, so the infographics like Harriet mentioned or video abstracts, so that You know, a 5000 word article can be distilled into a two minute video summary and the clinician can get the insight that they need, and then decide if they want to dig deeper. So it’s about how do we make the information more available? And from those credible sources and relevant sources, so when and where the clinician has a question? And the answer can be surfaced up rather quickly.

Harriet Jeckells   15:22

Yeah, definitely. So we set in the projects that we have it, sometimes it’s just one asset type, but more often than not, it’s quite a few different asset types. And that just gives that variety of content and, you know, one thought person may learn in a specific way, or have a specific preference, or maybe just not have much time at all that particular day, or there’s a topic that they just want a light touch on, they just want to get an overview, and there’s another where they really want to delve deeper and deeper. So what we try to do is, we obviously have a plan out of the gate, but we allow enough space in the project. But once the project is and it’s back to that long game, again, once the project and the content has been out there for a few months, we’re looking at the audience insights, and then we flex the content, whether that subject formats, you know, timing, reach out, regionality, whatever it is, we flex it to the audience. So we do that a lot. And that’s really, you know, the main way that we’re deciding what we put out when and it’s whether it’s the Angie’s point, you know, digital events, we find that on demand, the watching those, you know, back later at your own terms, or a summary of that event in 10 minutes, rather than the whole hour, whatever that looks like, or, for example, infographics, they’re all downloadable, or you’ve got audio versions of different things that you can listen to on your commute, just thinking about all of those ways that people are making it easier for people to consume that content on their terms.

Garth Sundem   16:57

That’s so interesting. You’re doing so much more with with a study, we have a leader in MAPS here who uses the phrase, The pub is the hub. From there everything goes. So is that is that true? Is the publication? Is the journal publication still the genesis for all of this content?

Angie List   17:18

Absolutely. So when you look your talk, we were talking about credibility before and you were saying, you know, Wiley, you know, being credible, we went looking at the survey results, the overwhelming majority, nearly 80% of this 1000 healthcare professionals surveyed say that online journals are the number one source of information. So that is still the primary source of information that they choose closely followed by medical reference portals, and other things. But yes, the absolute information coming from directly from that research and that insight, that is what the clinicians would like to go to the challenges with so much information out there having that editorially curated content that is specific to that individual going, this is the most relevant information that you need right now. Oh, just saves all of that, that that time and that resource intensity of trying to find that information?

Garth Sundem   18:12

Here’s a practical question that our listeners might might want to know. So if the pub is the hub, and 80% are going to the journal article, do you give HCPs or whoever is visiting options for how to consume that content on the page? What I’m wondering is if you have the journal article, is there an infographic that’s expandable next to it? Is there a way to click on the video summary at the journal page? You know, or is it really still that the journal article stands alone? And that all of these other things are trickled out later after it?

Angie List   18:52

That’s a great question. There are some articles that are published with that content already. It’s part of something that is already part of that package. For others. It’s something that we can add on later. But yes, within the article on Wiley Online Library, there’ll be an infographic and a video abstract there. And we often have pharma companies that sponsor the production of those to ensure that that article is surfaced more quickly in results, we do know that they are do return more quickly in results. So it’s it can be both ways it can be upon publication, or it can be something that’s added after the fact.

Harriet Jeckells   19:26

Yeah, and I think that interlinking works the other way as well. So when you’re more on the kind of adaptation side, and you’re starting with that, we’ll have a content feed of all the top articles that link you back out to wall, but then you’ve got that interlinking between, say, the digital event, the infographic, the elearning, and the articles all side by side. And there’s that Amazon style you read this content so you might find this helpful, and you know, time is so precious, you deserve that to be spoon fed to you to make it as easy as possible. Whether you’re or on Amazon or wherever you’re trying to upskill and learn for your job. So that’s the approach that we’re taking.

Garth Sundem   20:07

You know, that’s interesting. I can imagine picturing a pub as the hub approach as sort of a linear thing, where there’s the publication and then you go to the next step, which is an infographic, which is the next step, which is a video. But it’s not just a linear flow from the pub outward, it really is a hub with spokes going everywhere. And and then content also coming back into into the publication, not just out from the publication. I don’t want to go too long today. But I feel like we there’s so much more to this survey. Take us one more place, maybe. And, and then we’ll move on with our days. What other what other results jumped out at you, either Angie, or Harriet from the survey?

Angie List   20:53

Yeah, so I mean, we have touched on a lot of them. But the only other thing to touch on is that the practical content, such as webinars, case studies, and elearning are also rapidly growing in interest. So these options actually were selected three to four times more than this survey than in previous surveys. So, you know, you’re right, the pub is the hub. But you know, there are multiple ways of ensuring that information is disseminated, disseminated and can be consumed in the way that healthcare professionals want. So when you’re looking at content plans, when you’re looking at engagement plans, you know, adapting to these format preferences, and considering multi touch engagement. And a variety of formats is really, really key. Because there will be multiple opportunities to get that same information across.

Garth Sundem   21:40

Okay, that’s interesting, and potentially identifying your researchers who are capable of delivering video content and all that good stuff. All right, well, thank you, Harriet and Angie for joining us today. To learn more about how your organization can partner with Wiley. Visit wiley.com MAPS members don’t forget to subscribe. And we hope you enjoyed this episode of the Medical Affairs Professional Society podcast series: “Elevate.”