Sermo Panels Tap into Social Media Platform for On-Demand Physician Opinions

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.-(Business Wire)-September 29, 2009 - Sermo, the largest online community exclusively for physicians, today formally launched Sermo Panels™ - a new on-demand offering enabling businesses to engage with and gather insights from physicians in a private online workspace. Sermo Panels, which tap into Sermo’s active online community of more than 110,000 practicing MDs, generate fresh, actionable MD feedback. This new-generation tool enhances brand promotions, utilization research, industry intelligence, advisory boards, medical affairs support, and market research.

“For the first time, companies can leverage the power of our social media platform to start private, ongoing discussions with a targeted group of physicians within the Sermo community,” said Gina Ashe, cofounder and EVP of Sermo. “Because physicians on Sermo are already collaborating and sharing insights online, it’s easy to mine – on-demand – expert medical observations. This is a game-changing tool for any company that needs high-quality insight from US physicians.”

“Sermo Panels allowed us to gain insights not garnered in other forms of market research due to the candidness of the physicians on the panel,” said Reginald Lavender, product manager at Allergan Health. “The panels also reinforced many efforts we were moving forward with and enabled us to craft messaging that would resonate with the Sermo community for future postings.”

Physicians, who spend more than 35,000 hours a month on Sermo, are well versed in contributing to online discussions in which they exchange clinical insights and best practices. “At Sermo you find a long bench of practicing physicians who are working with patients every day and can provide fresh insights into a range of issues spanning pharmaceuticals, healthcare, and lifestyles,” continued Ashe.

Sermo Panels – New-generation Brand Promotion and Market Research Tools

Using Sermo Panels, businesses can now select a targeted group of expert physicians to share observations and advance knowledge on clinical products, treatment practices, and marketing strategies. Marketing executives, brand managers, and market researchers can engage MDs in a private online workspace to solve go-to-market and market research challenges by:

Testing sample messaging and new strategies in real-time with practicing physicians across 68 specialties.
Qualifying product uptake within days of launch resulting in immediate course correction.
Conducting Key Opinion Leader meetings more frequently and cost effectively to share observations and solicit feedback.
Tapping a new generation of key influencers as identified by colleagues on Sermo’s social media platform.
Confirming message dissemination post-launch based on real-world physician behavior.
Speeding awareness for new indications by targeting key advocates.
Tracking physician behavior and changes in perception over time to validate brand positioning and strategy.

Full Service and Express Panels Pricing

Sermo Panels are for any company that needs actionable MD feedback. Using the proprietary Sermo MD Selection Service™ (MDSS), businesses can go beyond traditional demographic targeting to include unique selection criteria such as topics of interest, clinical expertise, ranking and level of influence within the Sermo community.

Sermo Panels are available as full service or express options. The full service option is ideal for pharmaceutical, medical device, and biotech companies, providing comprehensive Sermo services including panel creation, moderation and monitoring, as well as in-depth, expert analysis reporting. The Sermo Panels Express™ option, ideal for agencies and market research professionals, enables clients to set up, moderate, manage, and analyze panel results on their own.

Sermo Panels and Sermo Panels Express services are available directly through Sermo. Sermo Panels pricing starts at $16,000.00, and the do-it-yourself Sermo Panels Express offering is available starting under $10,000.

Learn more about Sermo Panels at www.sermo.com/panels.

About Sermo

Sermo is where more than 110,000 US physicians collaborate on difficult cases, share clinical observations and work together to achieve better patient outcomes than each could individually. Sermo’s platform enables physicians to aggregate observations from their daily practice, then rapidly and in large numbers challenge or corroborate each other’s opinions. Sermo offers clients in healthcare companies, financial services institutions and government agencies a range of mechanisms to engage directly with US physicians. Leveraging aspects of social network theory, prediction markets and arbitrage, subscribing clients can access a stream of fresh, actionable information on emerging trends and market-changing events in healthcare. Visit http://www.sermo.com. Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/sermoteam.

All product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies.

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