Online physician communities in UK and France join forces
pharmafile | January 19, 2011 | News story | Medical Communications, Sales and Marketing | Egora, Global Media Sante, doctors communities, doctors.net, online communities
Two online communities for doctors have launched a strategic alliance to help them expand their reach.
UK-based Doctors.net.uk is teaming up with Global Média Santé, owner of Egora, a similar community for physicians and other health professionals in France.
The alliance will allow both companies to broaden their international reach by cross-selling and co-marketing a range of each other’s products and services. This will strengthen their offering to the pharmaceutical industry, health organisations and other companies wanting to engage with or research the behaviour of physicians and related healthcare professionals.
They also claim the collaboration will provide doctors with the opportunity for increased collaboration with their peers as well as improved access to enhanced professional content and online learning.
Doctors.net.uk has a membership of more than 180,000 registered UK physicians and each week over 50,000 use the service, making it the UK’s biggest doctors’ network.
Global Média Santé is the publisher of several very well-established medical magazines including two leading educational (CME) magazines, Le Concours médical (since 1897) La Revue du Praticien (since 1951).
Egora is the online division of the weekly medical magazine – Panorama du médecin. It is open to physicians, related health professionals, nurses, technicians, pharmacists and health administrators, and has more than 100,000 members.
Richard Adams, chief executive of Doctors.net.uk, said: “Our recent conversations with some of Europe’s leading pharmaceutical brands and healthcare communicators demonstrate a clear need for trusted online channels that can be used to engage directly with medical professionals across Europe.
“Establishing this commercial relationship with Global Média Santé represents a significant milestone in our plan to build a network of online physician communities across key European markets and beyond.”
For Doctors.net.uk the move is just the latest development in its global expansion plans. It recently unveiled a similar pact with Medcenter, the leading online healthcare marketing company in Latin/Central America and Iberia, and took a stake in its Swedish counterpart MedUniverse. It says there are further announcements to follow, which will allow it to will provide clients with European-wide online engagement with key stakeholders, and in a measurable way.
Alain Trébucq, MD and chief executive of Egora, commented: “We are very happy sharing experience with Doctors.net.uk, the leading online medical community in Europe. This company is a pure player in the internet, whilst Global Média Santé is simultaneously a traditional and multimedia publishing company, and we certainly have much to learn from each other.
“With this alliance, Doctors.net.uk and Global Média Santé will provide new solutions to European divisions of worldwide pharmaceutical companies.”
Andrew McConaghie
Related Content
Oncologists say CDF cuts will compromise treatment
Oncologists believe cutting drugs from the Cancer Drugs Fund won’t save the NHS money and …
Digital Pharma: European doctors’ communities form major alliance
Europe’s largest online doctors communities have formed an alliance that could help pharma break through …
New research on rules of engagement with doctors
For doctors, the next 12 months will not only bring financial pressure and a raft …
