OBJECTIVES : To enhance the support to type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients through addressing the information needs, digital medication health service (DMHS) platforms have been developed by pharmaceutical companies. To date, little has been reported about how the DMHSs are used in T2DM management in the real-world setting. Thus, this study aims to explore the real-world utilization of DMHS s by pharmaceutical companies to better understand T2DM patients’ needs for medication information at digital platforms.

METHODS : We studied two DMHSs by a pharmaceutical company for T2DM in China: hotline and WeChat. Qualitative data between January 2018 and December 2018 was extracted and analyzed through a content analysis approach.

RESULTS : The two DMHSs had handled 4,177 T2DM-related enquiries in 2018, of which 90% were made by patients, and 10% by doctors and distributors. The enquiries were mainly about: (i) product-specific information (mechanism of actions, drug recall, concurrent use with cardiovascular drugs, precautions in renal insufficiency, medical insurance coverage, and use in T1DM); (ii) purchase methods; (iii) PQC (injection needle deformation); and (iv) adverse drug events (lack of efficacy, adverse drug reactions such as chest tightness, urinary tract infection). In particular, many enquiries made by patients were about the methods of administration of diabetic treatment that involved the use of injection device. In response, methods of digitalization were employed to transfer disease knowledge (T2DM definition, diagnosis, complications, and dietary interventions) and to educate about the use injection device using videos distributed at the DMHSs.

CONCLUSIONS : DMHSs for diabetic management by pharmaceutical companies were frequently used by T2DM patients to address their diverse information needs. The potentials for DMHSs to become a useful tool in patient education, medication consultation, chronic disease management is worth further exploration using HTA based on real-world data sources.