The data: More than half (51%) of healthcare professionals now use digital channels to engage with pharma companies. However, the customer experience is slipping, according to DT Consulting’s 2025 Customer Experience Quotient global research.

• Pharma companies’ digital experience scores declined two points year over year. DT Consulting, an Indegene company, measures digital experience across three categories: trust, relevance, and simplicity.
• Healthcare professionals gave pharma companies the same trust score YoY, but relevancy scores dropped by one point, and simplicity fell by 2.
• Specific digital interactions where providers’ experience dropped the most were virtual events (down 11 points); email newsletters (down 7 points); and video calls with medical reps (down 3 points).

Meanwhile, non-digital engagements fared even worse. Healthcare professionals’ perception of face-to-face interactions and in-person events with pharma companies declined by 7 points overall YoY.

Why it matters: Traditional sales access is vanishing—only 45% of doctors still see reps in person—meaning digital channels are becoming the primary, and most critical, way to reach providers.

• 84% of healthcare professionals turn to digital channels and sources for medical content, per a July 2025 M3 MI study.
• 59% say webinars, online medical videos, and podcasts are helpful sources.
• The share of digital enthusiast physicians grew to 22% this year, up 5 percentage points, per DT Consulting, while traditionalists who prefer face-to-face engagement dropped to 22%, down 5 percentage points.