At least once a year, our clients ask a similar version of the same question: “Are there particular topics or themes that HCPs appear to engage with more than others?”

For a throwback to what our most popular editorial content looked like in years past, click here (2019) and here (2018).

This year has been unique, to say the least, so our clients are posing this question more and more frequently. Earlier this year, we analyzed our top headlines across 5 key association audiences and found that HCP interest in coronavirus-related news was consistently strong in Q2. This was the first time we’d seen a single editorial topic responsible for such a large volume of HCP engagement for an extended period.

As you can probably relate, just one blink and Q3 is nearly over and it’s time for us to check in on engagement. So, we pulled the 10 most-clicked articles since the beginning of August across our network of publications.

With little-to-no surprise, we discovered that our most-clicked headlines were all related to the pandemic. However, we found it interesting that all 10 headlines explicitly cite “coronavirus,” “COVID-19,” or “SARS-CoV-2,” even though we didn’t filter for these keywords or limit the type of headlines we included.

Upon analyzing the audiences responsible for the top 10 headlines, 8 of the 10 most-clicked articles are attributed to the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA). This trend makes sense as infectious disease specialists are particularly invested in COVID-19 coverage and are generally very engaged with their BulletinHealthcare briefing.

In fact, our IDSA audience averaged a gross open rate of 58.6% in 2019 – compared to 72.0% in 2020 – an impressive increase of 13.4% percentage points.

The American Society of Nephrology (ASN) and the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) are each responsible for 1 of the top 10 headlines,  indicating that – in our other specialty publications – our HCP readers are most engaged with COVID-19 content as it relates to their specialty in particular, e.g., protecting kidneys of COVID-19 patients for ASN, and COVID-19’s relation to chilblain lesions for AAD.

Although a less drastic trendline, ASN and AAD have also experienced increases in their year-over-year average gross open rates.

Without further ado, here are BulletinHealthcare’s top 10 headlines since the beginning of August this year, listed in descending order of HCP engagement (greatest to least clicked).

Top Headlines

1. A Timeline Of Phase III COVID-19 Vaccine Trials Does Not Show A Clear Path To Approval Before November (IDSA): Science Speaks
2. Fluid Management Key To Protecting Kidneys In Patients With COVID-19 (ASN): Kidney News Online
3. FDA’s Emergency Use Authorization For A Coronavirus Vaccine Signals Need For Public Dialogue (IDSA): Science Speaks
4. Remdesivir Appears To Have Little Effect In Patients With Moderate COVID-19, Study Suggests (IDSA): JAMA
5. IDSA Publishes New Guidance On Use Of SARS-CoV-2 Serologic Tests (IDSA): ID Society
6. Dr. Fauci Interviewed On IDSA Podcast About The COVID-19 Pandemic (IDSA): ID Society
7. Researchers Say Live Virus And Evidence Of Viral Replication Is Rarely Detectable Beyond Eight Days After Onset Of Symptoms In Patients With COVID-19 (IDSA): CDC.gov
8. Researchers Say Many People With COVID-19 In A Hospital Were Given Unnecessary Antibiotics (IDSA): Cambridge
9. Study Suggests Many People Hospitalized With COVID-19 Are Being Prescribed Antibiotics Without Bacterial Co-Infections (IDSA): Oxford Academic
10. Researchers Say SARS-CoV-2 Infection May Not Be Responsible For Recent Outbreak Of Chilblain Lesions During The COVID-19 Pandemic (AAD): Wiley Online Library

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If you have questions about existing or future advertising programs, or suggestions for this series, please contact your BulletinHealthcare representative or email advertise@bulletinhealthcare.com.