Martin Hamblin GfK Joins WebSurveyResearch

Martin Hamblin GfK Inc, the US-based healthcare arm of GfK, has signed an agreement to partner with WebSurveyResearch. This will bring it access to WebSurveyMD, the dedicated Internet panel of US physicians and other healthcare professionals.

Martin Hamblin GfK is only one of up to ten member companies who have exclusive use of the panels built and maintained by WebSurveyResearch. The WebSurveyMD panel currently has over 20,000 physicians across 37 specialties and will ultimately include some 50,000 physicians from all specialties. Currently, the panel is largely comprised of US physicians, with expansion across Europe and Asia underway. Uniquely, the panel is comprised entirely of physicians who have explicitly agreed to participate in surveys.

According to recent research, approximately 90 percent of doctors have access to the Internet at work or at home, making it a viable medium for conducting research among physicians. The results are collected up to a week after the questionnaire is received by respondents, and can be monitored and tabulated on-line in real time. Proper panel management insures panellists have fully agreed to be interviewed, and are not over or under-utilised.

Susan Rosovsky, director of US Healthcare Operations, recently joined Martin Hamblin GfK Inc to expand the company's domestic research business. She has been championing this initiative. She commented, 'This partnership strengthens Martin Hamblin GfK's commitment to providing innovative and effective research solutions for healthcare clients. Online research provides a wide range of options for pharmaceutical marketers to collect information from typically hard-to-research physicians and patient groups, speeding up time to results and providing rich, quality information in a very affordable manner. Researchers created WebSurveyResearch's online panels with extensive experience in panel management, online methodologies, and utilization of technology to collect data from healthcare professionals.'

Rosovsky concluded, 'We look forward to providing our clients the many benefits of online research combining Martin Hamblin's expertise in research design, analysis and interpretation with WebSurveyResearch's expertise in administering those designs online. '

All articles 2006-22 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas unless otherwise stated.

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