Consumers are expecting a better customer experience from the life-sciences and medical-device companies whose products undergird healthcare treatment. But perhaps even more importantly, their answers suggest that they sometimes do not understand well the communications from life science and medical device firms.
Those were the main takeaways of a survey released Tuesday by Salesforce Research, an arm of customer-relationship software vendor Salesforce.
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Nearly three-quarters of those surveyed, or 71 percent, said it is very important for pharmaceutical companies to provide good customer support. The figure for medical-device companies was 76 percent.
Healthcare companies, however, have room to improve when it comes to communicating with consumers, according to the survey, which gathered data from nearly 6,000 people around the world on their experiences as healthcare consumers.
Less than half described the communications they get from providers, insurers, pharmaceutical companies and medical-device firms as personally relevant, according to the survey. Further, many did not understand those communications, with 47 percent saying they mostly or completely understand messages from pharmaceutical companies. The figure was 54 percent for medical-device companies, 60 percent for insurers and 66 percent for providers.
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The stakes appear to be relatively high for companies aiming to lock in customer loyalty. The survey found that 82 percent of consumers would switch providers as a result of a bad experience.
The extent to which consumerization ultimately will reshape healthcare is subject to debate. Nonetheless, companies have been racing to help healthcare firms of all sorts embrace and capitalize on the trend. Solutions run the gamut from on-demand house calls to robust telemedicine programs to streamlined appointment scheduling.
For Salesforce, the push has translated into new additions to its Health Cloud platform. The latest is a patient program management solution designed to help life-sciences and medical-device companies handle patient communications, said Dr. Ashwini Zenooz, senior vice president and general manager for healthcare and life sciences at Salesforce, which is based in San Francisco.
Life-sciences and medical-device companies want more engagement with patients, both to remain relevant and to ensure adherence to treatment, Zenooz said in a phone interview. But they historically have viewed their customers to be, mainly, providers. The lines, however, are blurring, she said.
“I don’t think the trends are really sparing anybody,” she said. “Consumer expectations are consumer expectations.”
The company had noticed its customers in those sectors often patching together their own programs as they saw growth in calls to patient hotlines, Zenooz said.
In addition to helping to manage those communications, the new Salesforce solution also ensures providers are looped in on the conversations, Zenooz said.
“When the patients are calling in about a drug, they want the provider to be aware that the patients have these questions and they want the provider to be aware that the pharmaceutical company is giving out these responses,” Zenooz said.
The Salesforce program also makes sure patient consent forms are signed and in place to facilitate those communications, she added.
In addition to the patient component, Salesforce unveiled a Health Cloud component for medical-device companies to manage sales and revenue. For example, it allows device companies to more efficiently compare what their customers agree to buy against what they actually buy.
Photo: MaksimYremenko, Getty Images
