Why Pharma HCP Portals Get First Visits but Not Repeat Use

A first visit proves that an HCP reached your portal. It does not prove the portal answered a useful question or earned a second visit. Before rebuilding, follow four stages of the journey: how HCPs arrive, whether they can get in, whether they complete the task they came for, and whether there is a reason to return. Fix the stage where evidence shows the journey breaks. A new interface cannot compensate for inaccessible content, an unresolved enquiry, or a channel strategy that sends HCPs elsewhere.

For a commercial leader, three questions should come before a platform decision:

• Which HCP task is this portal meant to serve, and for whom?
• At what step do intended users leave or choose another channel?
• Would a content, access or operating change solve that problem without rebuilding the site?

Why visits are a poor measure of portal value

An email campaign or field representative may produce a traffic spike even when HCPs find outdated content, abandon registration, or complete the task elsewhere. Conversely, a portal that answers an occasional medical question may be useful without frequent repeat visits.

Define the intended use first. A learning hub, medical information service and commercial resource centre have different reasons to return, content owners and approval boundaries. Aggregate returning-user figures conceal those differences.

IQVIA's 2025 ChannelDynamics analysis draws on more than 33,000 HCPs in 38 countries and reports variation between preferred and received channels in major European markets. It measures channel preference and alignment, not portal retention. Diagnose your own site with portal evidence and HCP feedback.

The four-stage repeat-use diagnosis

1. Arrival: did the right HCP reach the right place?

Trace the route in. An email may promise a resource but link to a generic home page. A deep link may redirect to login and never return to the requested page. Search may surface the wrong country or language.

For each major referral, record the promised task, landing page, audience, country and next step. Measure arrival at the intended task on mobile and desktop. Repair signposting, deep links or country routing where needed.

The Medical Information Leaders in Europe (MILE) digital medical information principles call for discoverability, signposting, accessible navigation and mobile responsiveness. They concern non-promotional medical information services, not every commercial portal.

2. Access: did the gateway match the resource and risk?

Measure eligible users who complete access, abandon a form, fail recovery or reach an empty page after login. Segment by market, device, content type and first versus returning visit. Interview some users who struggled.

MILE discusses simpler self-validation for unsolicited, non-promotional medical information and notes that registration can impede access. Its position does not establish access control for promotional prescription-only material. Match the gate to the resource and approved market policy.

For UK-directed internet promotion of prescription-only medicines, PMCPA Clause 16.1 applies relevant Code requirements. Its website guidance addresses separation of public and professional sections when access to promotion is not limited to health professionals and other relevant decision makers. The local compliance owner should set the boundary; make the permitted journey clear and measurable.

3. Usefulness: could the HCP finish the task?

Choose three to five promised tasks: finding a resource, registering for an event, changing a preference or submitting a routine enquiry. Observe completion. Record failed searches, stale content, inaccessible documents and requests with no visible status.

Measure outcomes: the right current resource found, a request delivered and fulfilled, or a preference stored and reflected in the next experience. Report these promises separately from clicks.

MILE proposes that online medical information be accurate, balanced, referenced, current, non-promotional and specific to the HCP's question. Its search guidance belongs to medical information, not a promotional recommendation engine. Give medical and commercial content distinct owners and review routes.

4. Return: is there a reason to come back?

A successful one-off task may end the journey. Return becomes relevant when users expect updated resources, an event series, saved work or request status. Compare that expectation with the publishing and service cadence.

Compare cohorts with a reason to return, such as programme registrants versus one-off document visitors. Track the next useful task, not another session. The portal may be a dependable destination reached through email or a field colleague.

Decide what to fix from the evidence

Several causes may coexist. A rebuild becomes credible when bounded changes cannot meet a material need or the platform blocks the approved operating model. Involve engineering, medical and market owners where affected.

Run a 30-day audit before setting a rebuild budget

In week one, agree on two audiences and three to five tasks. Inventory entry routes, content owners and market versions. Confirm that analytics follows the site's approved privacy configuration.

In week two, trace the stages using event data, search terms, support logs and observed HCP sessions or interviews. Include failures and referrals elsewhere. Segment by market and task.

In week three, fix clear faults: a deep link, access message, stale resource, search label or unclear request owner. Keep approval controls intact and note campaign changes when comparing results.

In week four, review task outcomes and assign remaining problems to content, access, journey, integration or platform capability. Give proposed changes an owner and acceptance test before scoping a rebuild.

If a request or login fails because an upstream system changed, see our technical guide to keeping an HCP portal working when the CRM changes.

Request the HCP Portal Repeat-Use Scorecard

The scorecard covers intended tasks, evidence, market differences, likely causes, first fixes and the rebuild decision. Commercial, digital and technology teams can complete it together.

Request the HCP Portal Repeat-Use Scorecard with your business email and the scorecard name in your message. See Problock solutions and how we work.

Frequently asked questions

What is a good repeat-visit rate for an HCP portal?

There is no defensible universal target across medical information, promotional resources, events and one-off service tasks. Establish the expected return interval for a specific task and user group, then measure whether those users complete a useful next action. Do not use IQVIA's channel-preference results as a portal retention benchmark.

Should registration be removed to improve use?

Only after the content and market owners decide what access is appropriate for each resource. A simpler route may be suitable for some information, while other material needs a controlled audience boundary. Test friction within the approved design and keep public and professional journeys clear.

When should we rebuild rather than optimise?

Rebuild when the current platform cannot deliver important approved journeys, required integrations or maintainable country variants after bounded fixes have been tested. Specify those constraints and compare the cost, time and risk of repair with a scoped replacement. A low return-visit figure alone is not a rebuild case.

A better decision than “more traffic or a new portal”

The useful outcome is an HCP who reaches the right resource, understands the access route, finishes a task and trusts the next interaction. Follow those outcomes through the four stages, market by market. The resulting evidence will show whether the next investment belongs in content, access, operations, integration or the portal itself.

Sources and scope

• MILE, Principles for Digital Provision of Medical Information for Healthcare Professionals. Industry association principles for non-promotional digital medical information; not a binding rule for all HCP portal content.
• IQVIA, From Preference to Practice, 2025 ChannelDynamics analysis. Survey of channel preferences and alignment; not a study of this portal or a repeat-use benchmark.
• PMCPA, 2024 ABPI Code Clause 16. UK-directed promotional material and distribution; local teams must review applicability to their own content and market.

The four-stage diagnosis and 30-day audit are Problock's proposed working methods. They are not findings from those external sources, a client case study, or a claim of measured improvement.