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INTERNET SWEETSPOT Healthcare, biotech and the pharmaceutical industry are changing dramatically thanks to the Internet. The statistics are symptomatic of that change.
INFORMATION AND CONVERGENCE In the healthcare and pharmaceutical sectors, access to information and informational convergence are here. Until recently, doctors, hospitals and insurers monopolized health information. Not anymore. Patients and caregivers are striking back, with the help of consumer Web sites, health-related Web sites and pharmaceutical and healthcare sites. Health sites and the better pharmaceutical sites combine treatment and product information, becoming powerful virtual allies for consumers. At the same time, the far-flung sector continues to converge, moving towards a real-time, collaborative network of interdependent healthcare players online, consisting of doctors, hospitals, healthcare companies, content sites, infomediaries, pharmaceutical companies and e-pharmacies.
NEW MARKETS Between the recent rash of pharmaceutical company mergers and the inherent globalization of the Internet, biotech and pharmaceutical products are finding new markets in the form of new demographic or geographic markets, as well as markets previously inaccessible to them. The players are finding new partners at home and abroad, and the health landscape is becoming a global arena for the first time in history. Consumers the world over are able to research health conditions and cures, even sign up for coupons and trial products. And the B-to-B landscape may see the most important changes of all. For the first time, pharmaceutical companies can use EDI/e-commerce to sell products to distributors in new markets-markets that prior to now there were not able to reach. Companies are able to sell directly to distributors, or sell in regions where they have no physical presence.
DISINTERMEDIATION All parts of the health landscape are rich in information. Patients records, prescription information, resources, even the supply chains, brands and companies that are the glue of the healthcare sector are, in reality, just data. Patient records, drug information, blogs, intranets and extranets are connecting the dots on the health landscape. The disintermediating effect of the Internet means broader, more direct access to more health products and services.
S UPPLY CHAIN The Internet is a network of networks, which connects buyers and sellers. And that's exactly what's happening: supply chain geometries are changing. B-to-B marketplaces and intermediaries are springing up,as are intranets and extranets, all of which make supply chains more efficient and cut costs. Take a look at NeoForma, which is providing supplies to hospitals (and buying companies in and around their space) and intermediaries like PharmasMarket, which reconfigures old supply chains to provide drugs for healthcare providers and allows for highly targeted marketing and promotion. COMMUNITY Health-related communities are now mature, effective and widespread, providing fast information for users via community units, chat, and message boards. Communities provide patients and caregivers with access to online databases, medical experts and each other.
MARKETING What happens when companies begin to market directly to consumers? When those consumers start researching and acting for themselves without the traditional information gatekeepers like physicians and HMO's? When advertising regulations are removed? The answer: marketing and lots of it. All players in the health sector are marketing to consumers (and each other).
SELLING Pharmaceutical and consumer health companies are beginning or will begin to sell directly. For pharmaceutical companies, the buyers may be retailers or distributors. For example, look for the makers of vaccines to sell directly via the Internet to distributors in far flung territories, eliminating middlemen and slashing company travel budgets. Consumer health companies will take a page out of the beauty sector's book, selling directly to end users. Procter & Gamble is forging relationships with online grocers and creating online panels to conduct ongoing research. Pharma companies are putting branded interactive diagnostics, fully trackable coupons, Rx frequent flyer programs, and video testimonials online.
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