The Pew Internet and American Life Project released the findings of a report today (opens to a PDF) that examined the online behavior of individuals living with chronic diseases.

There are two key takeaways from this report.  The first is that individuals living with a chronic disease are less likely to have access to the Internet.  According to the report:  “81% of adults reporting no chronic diseases go online and 62% of adults living with one or more chronic disease go online.”  The report goes on to indicate that this is an indication not of desire to go online, but of access to the technology required to go online.

The second key takeaway is that if all variable factors are weighted equally, individuals dealing with a chronic disease are more likely to go online in search of health information and far more likely to consumer user-generated content.

As pharmaceutical marketers, the obvious question is “how does this data impact my efforts?”  As I stated earlier this week, every social media engagement strategy should start and end with the patient.  The focus has to be creating better patient outcomes.  In order to move forward in that process, an understanding of the patient is paramount.  This study from Pew helps healthcare companies better understand the behavior of the patient.

The data supports the idea that social media is not a silver bullet.  The reality is a significant chunk of the patient population is not online.  Clearly, social media is not the right avenue to reach those patients.  Traditional forms of marketing (including PR) still hold relevance in reaching this segment of the population.  The Pew report states that the lack of access to the internet creates an information gap for patients that are not online.  Pharmaceutical companies should focus a piece of their efforts on bridging that gap.  As always, social media is but one part of a integrated marketing strategy.

The plus side of this report for social media advocates is that it confirms what we have always known—those patients that do have access to online content consume it voraciously.  Anecdotally I know this to be true.  My Mom battled Melanoma for 3.5 years and was constantly online looking for new research, treatment options and support groups.  In some small way, it helped her feel connected to a community and less isolated in her struggle.  That’s no small feat.  Social media remains a powerful platform to engage with patients, hear their feedback and work toward the lofty goal of achieving better outcomes.