What Mexican Doctors Can Learn From Their Latin American Peers

In 2022, when we presented the first "Médic@ Digital en México" study at the Academia Nacional de Medicina de México, the goal was simple: stop guessing how physicians use technology and start measuring it. Two years later, the 2024 edition showed how fast that picture was changing. Only one in 10 doctors reported using AI tools, and half did no promotional or visibility activity to support their practice, even as their patients moved online in large numbers.

Those numbers raised a question we could not answer from Mexico alone. Are Mexican physicians behind, ahead, or simply different from their peers in the region?

The "Médic@ Digital en Latinoamérica 2026" study, developed by Central Media and FUNSALUD and validated by the Academia Nacional de Medicina de México, was designed to answer it.

From One Country to Five

This edition adds Colombia, Peru, Chile, and Argentina to Mexico. More than 4,000 physicians answered the same questionnaire, which means every indicator can be compared across countries. Latin America shares a common history in medical training, in the structure of its health systems and in many of its challenges. It also shares the risk of repeating the same mistakes in isolation.

A regional view lets us do something practical: copy what works, and avoid what has slowed technology adoption elsewhere. If Chilean doctors have adopted e-prescription faster, or Peruvian physicians rely more on instant messaging to follow up with patients, those are lessons Mexico can use, and vice versa.

A Portrait of the Whole Medical Community

The sample was designed to reflect the entire medical community, not just the most connected doctors. In Mexico, we went further and set specific quotas for more than 20 specialties, including general surgery, gastroenterology, gynecology and obstetrics, internal medicine, and psychiatry. This lets a cardiologist, a pediatrician, or a pharmaceutical brand manager look at the data for their own specialty, rather than an average that hides the differences.

One point is worth stressing. The study asks only about professional use of technology. We do not ask doctors about entertainment or personal habits. Every question relates to how they practice medicine.

Six Sections, One Digital Journey

The questionnaire, consisting of over 40 questions, follows the physician's digital journey in six sections.

• Digital habits and preferences: which devices doctors use and their main online activities in their professional life.
• Contact with patients: how they communicate through messaging apps, email, social media or phone calls, and whether they do any promotional activity in digital or traditional media.
• Technology in the practice: use of electronic health records, e-prescriptions and virtual consultations. With Mexico's recent reform to the General Health Law making digital health mandatory in the public sector, this baseline is especially timely.
• Digital resources: the specific platforms physicians rely on for diagnostic support, continuing medical education and prescribing decisions. This year we added more questions on how doctors use AI in their daily work.
• Social platforms: which networks they use, what they think of health content creators, which profiles they follow and how that information influences their clinical decisions.
• Relationship with the pharma and health industry: which interactions they value most, from medical representative visits and congresses to virtual events and instant messaging, and which formats they prefer for promotional content. This section also includes a ranking of the companies and laboratories that physicians consider best at digital communication.

Built With the Platforms Doctors Already Trust

A study like this depends on reaching physicians where they already are. We partnered with platforms that hold databases and consent from doctors for scientific activities, continuing medical education and professional information: Close-Up International, Conectimed, Doctoralia, iDoctus, IntraMed, LiveMed, PLM and Smart Scale. They were the main channel for inviting doctors to participate.

What stands out is that physicians answered a 15-minute survey with no financial incentive. The only reward was access to a more complete version of the results than the public one. That tells me something about this community: doctors want to understand their own digital transformation and are willing to give time to it.

Why It Matters

Fieldwork ran from May to September, and the results will be presented on Oct. 7. The data will help public institutions design better policy, and help the private sector encourage physicians to use technology to improve their daily work. It will also show the challenges, risks and opportunities that need attention, so that adoption moves fast but with care, and always with the patient at the center.

For pharmaceutical companies, medical device firms, hospitals and healthtech startups, there is a more immediate use. Knowing which channels a gastroenterologist in the Bajío actually reads, which formats younger physicians in Colombia prefer, or how doctors working in public institutions in Chile decide what to prescribe is the difference between a communication strategy built on assumptions and one built on evidence. Beyond the public summary, the complete dataset, country and regional breakdowns and custom analysis are available to organizations that want to build their 2027 plans on real numbers.

The digital doctor is no longer a Mexican story. It is a regional one, and for the first time we will be able to read it side by side.

Results are presented on Oct. 7. From that date, findings, breakdowns and access to the public version of the study are available at www.medicodigital.lat.