Over the last 20+ years I have watched thousands of one-on-one market research interviews with physicians and healthcare specialists to determine what will drive prescribing habits for clients. My findings? Doctors are humans. They take in and analyze a wide range of factors (even some irrational ones) when making a choice.

As a veteran specialty pharmaceutical marketing consultant, I’ve dedicated my entire career to influencing and changing the behaviors of physicians and their patients. Unquestionably, my job would be a lot easier if presenting the clinical case for a drug was all that was needed to influence decisions. But as I wrote in my last post, waging a data war isn’t always a winning proposition.

It is human nature to avoid change; it physically stresses us out

Studies show that the chemical changes in a brain attempting to effect change are similar — although on a smaller scale — to those present during times of stress. The stress hormone cortisol is released, triggering the body’s ability to adapt to what’s new, what’s different, and what’s unknown. People go to surprising lengths to avoid change, even when it benefits their circumstances. In studying human behavior, scientists have investigated the issues associated with this rather counterintuitive phenomenon from many angles.

Hypotheses on how we humans handle change come from such diverse fields as loss aversion theory in economics to plain old garden-variety peer pressure factors.

Turns out, doctors are no different

While physicians are trained to prescribe medications based upon their clinical merit, other issues clearly come into play when several drugs offer similar benefits.

There are also compelling arguments pointing to the way doctors make their decisions, which can be more based in habit than data (read Jerome Groopman’s insightful book How Doctor’s Think for more on that topic). As part of their clinical instruction, physicians are trained to recognize patterns. They are also trained to work with “proven” protocols that are based on repetitive actions and past decisions. Pairing this paradigm with the science of human behavior — which illustrates the innate human desire to resist change — makes it even harder for doctors to modify their habits.

Set in their ways

In my experience, the idea of trying a new approach almost never occurs to the vast majority of physicians unless they have had many strong cues indicating that they should be doing something different.

When we want to make major behavioral changes it is important to look beyond the typical market research that pharmaceutical companies conduct where they simply document what doctors do. We need to understand why doctors do what they do. What is the emotional connection to a specific product device or approach? This is never very easy. Physicians provide very rote answers, both in market research and in the exam room. And most of the time they don’t even realize why they do what they do — it’s just the art of medicine. They also don’t register that it makes them uncomfortable to do something differently or make a significant change. This physical and mental stress is probably how we got the phrase, “do it fast like pulling off a band aid,” because a decision can hurt.

We must change, too

Marketers must realize that clinical data is just the cost of entry to the conversation. We need to find ways, as difficult as this may be from a regulatory perspective, to help doctors know why they would prefer our brand. We have to present a case that gets them comfortable with a new choice, because they won’t feel comfortable instantly, which dramatically affects the way revenues are forecasted. Areas that can be trigger points for change include: helping the physician truly understand how the patient feels about their therapy; helping the physician know what their peers are doing; and helping the physician understand adherence challenges. The goal is to get physicians to think, “Hey, this is a good idea; it’s going to be ok; this is best for everyone.”

How do you make physicians feel more comfortable prescribing your product? It all starts with building good relationships, which I’ll focus on next time.

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