For many of our clients, the success of their business relies heavily on the processes they use for fulfillment or delivery of their products or on programs they implement to obtain and retain customers.
We have a wide range of experience helping companies develop, assess, and improve these processes and programs to ensure optimization. Some of these study outcomes are more strategic, such as the results yielded by a multi-phased qualitative investigation that helped design a competitive registration, authorization, and fulfillment program for a new specialty medication.
Others are tactical, as in the findings from a large quantitative test-control study that identified the optimal mix and number of email and phone contacts to retain loyalty program members. At times, our clients have utilized these program assessment results to negotiate improved contract terms with a third-party vendor providing these services on their behalf. In all cases, our experience across business types, program delivery modes, and research methods allows us to help clients make the most efficient use of the processes and programs in which they’ve heavily invested.
Patient Services Program Improvement
Industry: Pharmaceuticals
Area of Focus: Process & Program Assessment and Improvement
Target: Patients and caregivers
Method: Quant telephone surveys
Background: Pharma client’s patient program team is responsible for providing a number of services for patients who have been prescribed their medication for multiple sclerosis. Changes were made to the program in one U.S. region to help better serve patients, and management wanted to understand how satisfied each of its program constituents was with the service before rolling changes out to other regions.
Business Questions: How satisfied are patients with the program overall and on specific attributes of service? How much more satisfied were patients who participated in the region that changed processes vs. those in the other regions?
Approach: Telephone interviews with MS patients enrolled in the program; sample sizes large enough in each region to see statistically significant differences on key attributes.
Outcome: A revised program was rolled out in two regions, with revisions including a more efficient registration process, revised communications to emphasize available assistance with problem areas, increased assistance with prior authorizations and reimbursements, and expanded clinic partnerships to increase walk-in location options for patients needing clinical testing.
Specialty Pharmacy Service Assessment
Industry: Biopharmaceuticals
Area of Focus: Process & Program Assessment and Improvement
Target: HCPs managing reimbursement & access
Method: Quant telephone interviews
Background: A biotherapeutics company who relies heavily on specialty pharmacy services for distribution and patient support of its leading products needed unbiased performance metrics on a particular specialty pharmacy to aid in quality assessment and contract negotiation.
Business Questions: How satisfied are HCPs with the distribution and support services managed by the specialty pharmacy? Do service levels vary by regional pharmacy branch? What are the key components of service quality for benchmarking and tracking purposes? What can the specialty pharmacy do better to maximize HCP and patient satisfaction?
Approach: Quantitative telephone surveys among prescriber office staff who have direct contact with the specialty pharmacy
Outcome: Study findings were used to create regional pharmacy branch report cards, with key performance metrics and verbatim comments about the branch, which the client utilized in its performance review and contract negotiations with the specialty pharmacy.
