eMarketer has published the latest information on email marketing performance in the pharmaceutical industry.

Our new publisher partner, HealthyWomen.org, has teamed up with Woman’s Day to find out how women take control of their health. They want to know: How do you keep track of all the medical tests and screenings you need to take?

These two big-name publishers are able to leverage their massive reach to and stellar reputations with such a large portion of our population — women. They both understand the vital importance of the women’s health topic in today’s world.

eHealthcare Solutions is excited to be able to offer advertising opportunities on HealthyWomen.org, and we encourage our female readers to take the short survey.

The healthcare publisher deal space continues to heat up with Remedy Health Media acquiring HealthCentral.  Cunnion in Schroeder out.

Remedy Health Media Acquires HealthCentral – Kara Swisher – News – AllThingsD.

Maybe it’s Lipitor’s pending loss of patent protection and the drought in pharmaceutical pipelines, or more likely perhaps is the announcement of significant minority shareholder positions by both Carl Icahn and George Soros in recent weeks (and the interesting phone calls with management that likely took place since)… Or perhaps is competition from Everyday Health, or maybe it’s just time for Marty Wygod to retire into the sunset and focus exclusively on his horses… whatever the reasons, industry juggernaut WebMD (WBMD) is exploring options for selling the company to private equity.  Interesting timing…

WebMD Exploring Sales Process: Exclusive – TheStreet.

Michael Fogarty, Senior Vice President and Global Publisher of BabyCenter, told eMarketer “It’s very clear that moms are using mobile in different ways from the general women’s mobile segment because motherhood instigates mobile usage. We learned that 53% of moms actually purchased a smartphone as a result of becoming a mom.”

So, if you have a mobile app or anything else to promote to moms check out the access we have to them and women in general as part of our Consumer Health Network.

Read the eMarketer article for more about moms and mobile.

eMarketer reports that PricewaterhouseCoopers found that social media is among the top 3 privacy/security concerns in the healthcare industry. This is one more example of why pharmaceutical marketers are struggling on how best to incorporate the patient conversation into their communications efforts.

In a study reported by eMarketer, researchers found a fairly robust response rate to online video ads. Overall, the study reported that 18.2% of online video viewers took some kind of action based on seeing an online video ad. The propensity to do so was even greater among over-35s, and especially among older men. Meanwhile, men ages 34 and under had less than half the response rate to online video ads.

Read the full eMarketer story.

According to eMarketer, the online advertising industry has its eyes on online video, the fastest-growing digital ad format.
However, publishers and advertisers alike recognize roadblocks are keeping more dollars from freely moving to online video advertising.

Most online publishers felt lack of standardization was limiting online ad growth—a valid statement considering the vast number of networks, video players and providers in the online video space. Likely related are the challenges of technical implementation and integration with third parties, mentioned by 31% and 26% of respondents, respectively.

Online publishers also saw online video’s interruptive nature as bad for the user experience, with 39% of respondents citing this as a barrier to additional online video ad growth. On the other hand, the interruptive nature of online video is often considered an asset among advertisers looking to capture complete user attention.

Abbott announced that it will separate into two publicly traded companies, one its $18-billion pharma unit and the other its $22-billion diversified medical products business. The research-based pharmaceutical company, which has yet to be named, will be led by 30-year Abbott veteran Richard Gonzalez, currently EVP for global pharmaceuticals. It will focus on “select specialty products” Abbott said.

Read the article in MM&M