To Outsource or Not To Outsource? That May No Longer Be a Question

The healthcare landscape is changing dramatically… and many changes are yet to come. As such, outsourcing has increased in an effort to drive down cost and comply with the ever-changing regulatory environment.

Here are 4 outsourcing trends in the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries:

1. Crisis Management Recall Support: During any given recall, the need to make thousands of contacts, often with only hours of advance notice, is the norm. In order to respond appropriately and responsibly, many companies are outsourcing their call center so their brand can better respond to the high volume of contacts. Given the recent increase in the amount of recalls in the pharmaceutical industry and the subsequent media and social media attention, efficiency and responsiveness have never been so important.
2. Adverse Event Support: Adverse events have the potential to be costly and high risk to businesses if not handled effectively upon notification. It is important to spend the time and resources to quickly identify the source of the event, communicate it to key stakeholders and capture important details to avoid crisis situations later down the line. Having a partner who can accurately and reliably identify, report, and submit adverse events is a must-have for companies outsourcing this critical function.
3. Patient Support: In an effort to connect with patients, pharmaceutical companies are expanding beyond the pill with patient support lines to differentiate themselves from generic competition. Contact centers are staffed with highly trained professionals, including Pharmacists and Nurses in order to provide patient support services like smoking cessation and health coaching, among others.
4. Access and Reimbursement: Today patients and healthcare providers are in need of additional support when trying to navigate the complex payment process for important medications. Pharma and biotech companies are relying on outsourcing partners to assist them in providing benefit verifications, prior authorizations, appeals, rebates, co-pays, and claims tracking to ensure a high quality cost effective patient assistance solution.

Why the Change?

With the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, companies are striving to be as efficient as possible and only sticking to those services that are key to their core business in order to decrease costs for the patient and the business. At the same time, the industry is making a switch from volume of care to quality of care, and as such, creating a connection with the patient becomes paramount. Companies large and small are left with one option — to outsource. With the help of a trusted partner, companies gain additional staff, infrastructure, technology, best practices, operational efficiencies, quality, expertise and compliance, and over time, decreased costs.

What other outsourcing trends have you noticed this year? Please let me know in the comments section.