All DOLs Are KOLs Now: DOLs in Medical Affairs | Acceleration Point | Resources

Key Takeaways

A digital opinion leader (DOL) is a healthcare expert who shares scientific perspective through digital channels such as X (formerly Twitter), LinkedIn, and physician-only networks like Doximity and SERMO.
Many established key opinion leaders (KOLs) are now also active digitally, which is why one biopharmaceutical executive interviewed by Acceleration Point frames DOLs as KOLs operating on a different channel.
Digital channels let opinion leaders share information in near real time, without waiting for a publication cycle to complete.
Adoption of DOL monitoring in Medical Affairs remains uneven, often limited by team capacity and available tooling rather than by the value of the channel.
In a 2020 peer-reviewed survey of internal medicine physicians, 18.7 percent reported having a professional profile on social media and 74 percent did not have or actively use a professional account, pointing to an adoption gap that is still developing.

Traditionally, key opinion leaders did the research, wrote the publications, and authored the books. They held scientific credentials as MDs, PharmDs, or PhDs. As technology changed, so did the ways a person can act as an opinion leader, and those ways now include digital.

What is a digital opinion leader (DOL)?

A digital opinion leader is a healthcare expert who shares scientific and clinical perspective primarily through digital and social channels rather than only through journals and conference podiums. Some established KOLs have become active online and now share through non-traditional channels such as X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, and LinkedIn, as well as physician-only social networks like Doximity and SERMO. For Medical Affairs teams, identifying these digital opinion leaders is now part of understanding who influences scientific conversation in a given therapeutic area.

Why do some experts say all DOLs are KOLs now?

Acceleration Point recently interviewed a client on this question. He is an expert on the emergence of the digital opinion leader and a C-level executive at a global biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Europe. While some Medical Affairs organizations have been slow to adopt DOL engagement practices, or have remained uncertain about how to manage those relationships differently from offline KOLs, this executive is direct about how he sees it.

"All DOLs are KOLs now," he began. In his words:

"I look at a digital opinion leader as a KOL. They're just disseminating information across a different channel, and that's a different way to look at things. Some people look at it as though they're doing something different, but they're not."

How does digital change medical education and information sharing?

The executive went on to describe why digital channels have become central to how medical information circulates. Opinion leaders can take the conversation online and in real time. With daily updates, evolving viewpoints, and new technology, digital channels let opinion leaders stay close to what is happening in their field and share perspective as it develops. In his own words:

"Now with the advent of social media and these new digital key opinion leaders, they're not waiting for a publication to get approved when they have pieces of information to share. They're not always waiting to get stuff out there. They have the ability to get it out very quickly to a large audience of people that care about this information because they've gone ahead and self-followed individuals."

Both digital and traditional opinion leaders have room to make use of these channels, and many across therapeutic areas already do. Much of that activity now happens on public platforms, where conversations on X, formerly Twitter, carry real scientific signal for Medical Affairs teams that are listening.

Why are some Medical Affairs teams slow to adopt DOL monitoring?

Change does not come easily. Some Medical Affairs organizations put off digital opinion leader monitoring because they do not yet have the team or the software in place to do it well. That gap is measurable. In a 2020 peer-reviewed survey of internal medicine physicians, 18.7 percent reported having a professional social media profile and 74 percent did not have or actively use a professional account, a reminder that professional digital presence is still uneven across the physician community.

What it comes down to is recognizing the digital channel as a real part of how influential physicians and their peers now engage. What has migrated online is not going offline any time soon. By reconciling how they think about KOLs and DOLs, and by putting the right listening and workflow infrastructure in place, Medical Affairs teams can turn social monitoring into actionable insights and make sure their scientific engagement reaches the right audience. For a wider industry view, the Medical Affairs Professional Society's work on digital opinion leaders and HCP influence mapping is a useful reference point.

Curious how this applies to your organization? Let's talk.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between a KOL and a DOL?
A key opinion leader (KOL) is a recognized scientific or clinical expert who has traditionally built influence through research, publications, and speaking. A digital opinion leader (DOL) builds and extends that influence through digital and social channels. As the executive interviewed here puts it, many DOLs are simply KOLs sharing information across a different channel.

Which platforms do digital opinion leaders use?
DOLs are active on public social platforms such as X (formerly Twitter), LinkedIn, and Facebook, as well as physician-only networks like Doximity and SERMO.

Why should Medical Affairs teams monitor digital opinion leaders?
Digital channels let opinion leaders share perspective in near real time, without waiting for a publication cycle. Monitoring that activity helps Medical Affairs teams understand current scientific conversation and identify who is shaping it in a given therapeutic area.

What holds Medical Affairs teams back from engaging DOLs?
The most common barriers are operational rather than strategic: limited team capacity and a lack of dedicated listening or workflow tools. Uneven professional social media adoption across the physician community adds to the challenge.

All DOLs Are KOLs Now: The Changing Perception of Pharmaceutical Opinion Leaders