A leading US developer of free smartphone apps for doctors is criticised in The New York Times for making its users “wade through” marketing that attempts to influence the drugs they choose to dispense to patients. Epocrates’s apps, which are used by nearly half of doctors in the US says the newspaper, enables them to look up information on areas such as drugs dosing or insurance cover. However in-app advertising is hard to ignore and can get in the way of doctors doing their jobs, says the story. An example is given of a psychiatrist in Massachusetts who, having opened one of the company’s apps on his iPhone, had to get past promotional messaging from pharmaceutical companies to look for the drugs he actually wanted.

Apps-based marketing can be targeted at doctors based on their specialisms and past prescription histories. Epocrates has plans to further expand its smartphone apps. “One possibility is a virtual sales rep that would help drug makers get their wares in front of physicians who decline to see human sales representatives,” says the story. The article also quotes Epocrates’s president and CEO, Rose Crane (pictured) as saying its first commitment is “the value to the physician”.