CRM for Home Infusion Therapy Providers:

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1 CRM for Home Infusion Therapy Providers: A Critical Advantage for Better Communication and Quality Patient Care sponsored by AbilityCRM GAME-CHANGING APPROACH TO STREAMLINING CUSTOMER SERVICE OBJECTIVES N. Frank Lloyd Wright Blvd., Suite 16 Scottsdale, AZ Info@AbilityCRM.com

2 INTRODUCTION With the cost of healthcare continuing to escalate and an uncertain future about impending healthcare reform, the home infusion industry will continue to grow in the years and decades ahead. Especially as Baby Boomers continue to age, that means an increased reliance on a healthcare system that is already working hard to meet the needs of patients of all ages. At the same time, new pharmaceuticals entering the market, along with advances in medicine in general, translates into more treatment options for patients. Home Infusion Therapy Provider Industry & Significant Market Drivers According to the National Home Infusion Association (NHIA), based in Alexandria, Va.: Infusion therapy involves the administration of medication through a needle or catheter, and is prescribed for infections unresponsive to oral antibiotics, cancer-related pain, dehydration, gastrointestinal disorders, congestive heart failure, Chrohn s Disease, hemophilia, immune deficiencies, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis and many other conditions. And as demands increase on home infusion therapy providers, so too does managing a host of issues, including providing a safe and cost-effective alternative to institutionalized care, improving health outcomes and enhancing quality of life for patients while still managing a profitable business. Customer relationship management (CRM) software can help benefit home infusion therapy providers in a variety of ways, including improving internal and external communication tracking, fostering faster decision making when accepting new patients and experiencing fewer cases being let go due to improved efficiency. This paper is designed to help home infusion therapy providers to explore and embrace all that CRM has to offer as the nation s healthcare system undergoes dramatic transformation in the years ahead. There has never been a better time for the home infusion therapy providers to explore and embrace all that CRM has to offer as the nation s healthcare system undergoes dramatic transformation in the years ahead. 2

3 Last year, the NHIA released its comprehensive, first-ever analysis of the alternate-site infusion field in its study, 2010 NHIA Provider Survey Comprehensive Analysis Report. The ground-breaking study was compiled from national statistics from across the full spectrum of alternate-site infusion organizations. Among the report s key findings: In 2008, 730 NHIA member provider locations administered approximately 1.24 million therapies to an estimated 829,000 unique patients with an average of 1.5 therapies per patient. NHIA member provider locations earned a combined total revenue of between $4.5 and $6.5 billion and employed between 15,000 and 20,000 full time equivalent staffing positions in Several market drivers that are now affecting the home infusion therapy industry include: Continued steady growth as the home infusion therapy market continues to mature, therapies have developed a solid safety track record and more opportunities continue to present themselves to providers; Cost savings to the health care system compared to costs of treatment in hospitals, home infusion therapy represents a significant savings in excess of 80 percent ($150 to $200 per day for medications at home compared to $1,500 to $2,500 per day); Elimination of infection risk exposure to infections from bacteria that can invade through IV lines and catheters is higher in hospitals than at home; Changing reimbursement environment many therapies delivered by home infusion companies are not reimbursed by Medicare (new legislation was introduced in Congress in June 2011 Medicare Home Infusion Therapy Coverage Act of 2011 which calls for coverage of infusion-related services, supplies and equipment under Medicare Part B, while coverage of the drugs would remain under Part D) and this in turn lowers margins and forces providers to be much more efficient; Product development strides continue in the home infusion therapy industry regarding pharmaceutical products, supplies and home infusion therapy delivery devices, such as infusion pumps that are becoming smarter The Benefits of CRM: A Closer Look At its most basic level, CRM is becoming a widely implemented strategy for small- and medium-sized businesses interested in improving their employee s interactions with their customers, clients and prospects. Utilizing a CRM system effectively will demonstrate the following advantages, such as increased revenue and profits, improved management, shortened sales cycles, improved customer service, improved customer profiling and target marketing. The following provides a look into the benefits of using a CRM system and more specifically one of the leading CRM solutions on the market today: Microsoft Dynamics CRM. In 2011, Forrester Research, Inc. conducted an independent study of nine Microsoft Dynamics CRM customers, one of which is a healthcare information technology services company in the US that provides integrated medical devices, software, and online services solutions with more than $15 million in revenue. 3

4 Among Forrester s findings in their report, The Total Economic Impact of Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011, was that: The majority of the organizations interviewed either did not have a CRM system in place or were using homegrown legacy software before turning to Microsoft. A number of the organizations had been using other packaged software CRM solutions in a limited capacity and decided to consolidate around Microsoft Dynamics CRM All the organizations were experiencing rapid growth and had departmental collaboration barriers that were hampering their sales processes. They needed more collaboration among sales, marketing, customer service, and delivery to get to the next level of customer engagement. For most of the companies interviewed, familiarity and integration with Microsoft Outlook were fundamental to their choice of a CRM solution. One organization even had representatives from its sales team going into the evaluation process preferring different CRM software, but after the evaluation, the team was unanimous in choosing Microsoft Dynamics CRM Utilizing a CRM system effectively will demonstrate the following advantages, such as increased revenue and profits, improved sales management, shortened sales cycles, improved customer service, improved customer profiling and target marketing. The Forrester report then confirmed several CRM system benefits based on findings tabulated into a composite organization based on the nine companies studied, including: Increased sales productivity of 5 percent with the ease of use of Microsoft Dynamics CRM software and integration with Outlook leading to higher adoption, improved opportunity and lead tracking and routing, and a more accurate picture of its sales pipeline. The interviewed companies improved their sales reporting and better managed their customer database and achieved faster and more efficient processes for sales forecasting. all the customer information they needed to resolve cases quickly and with precision. Streamlined processes and operations leading to lower cost of sales as Microsoft Dynamics CRM enabled the composite organization s technical consultants to shorten time spent on the proposal process by 10 percent. The interviewed organizations saw process improvements for their account management, engineering, order taking, and project delivery teams, which led to lower operational costs and improved customer responsiveness. Customer service productivity savings from a better UI and documented processes. The composite organization avoided hiring 1.5 full time equivalents (FTE) for its 10-person customer service team even as its division grew. Customer service agents improved issue resolution as new processes were implemented, and agents had access to Acceleration of sales conversion cycle by 50 percent and corresponding revenue gain as teams worked better together across different business systems, processes and geographies. 4

5 Marketing cost savings of more than $200,000 (risk-adjusted over three years) due to more realtime insights and improved campaign management from better analytics. Improved customer service delivery with quicker response times, dialog boxes, and segmented levels of customer service through insights from Microsoft Dynamics CRM. Productivity savings of 16 man-hours per month due to the better reporting tools in Microsoft Dynamics CRM with data consolidation, reporting automation, and richer dashboard capabilities. Improved cross-sell collaboration within sales and customer service teams by providing access to reporting tools and other collaboration software such as Microsoft SharePoint Server CRM In Action: A Home Infusion Therapy Success Story Recently, a leading home infusion therapy provider (HITP) in the Phoenix metropolitan area faced a serious challenge affecting the quality of their infusion therapy patient service and care. As the company continued to grow, it faced the daunting task of tracking hundreds of s received each day from various hospitals and other healthcare providers looking to place patients under their care. As a result, their IT administrator, Brent Long, determined that his company needed a robust CRM tool that would have far greater capability than the stopgap system he created using Microsoft SharePoint. After maximizing SharePoint s capabilities as far as they could for nearly two years, the company upgraded to Microsoft Dynamics CRM and chose CRM consultant, AbilityCRM, to help implement it. The Challenge To track patient activity, we were using only and copying/ pasting Word and Excel templates into s and then saving those chains, explained Long, who also pointed out the company s sales director was trying to compile a weekly report from the s being received from various sources, including local hospitals and other healthcare providers. Long added that the company s intake staff those receiving s to start patient charts and responsible for conveying correct patient system information to the company s field sales team or liaisons were dealing with upwards of 500 s per day. Even billing was disorganized, Long said. No one could easily find or get access to the information they needed, which prompted even more s to find out what they needed. As a result, the HITP had no central location for tracking acquired patients, referrals or even prospective patients. 5

6 The Solution For this HITP, four separate departments must review a patient s medical chart before approving them for admittance, including Billing (addresses insurance issues), Intake (enters patients into the HITP system), Nursing (schedules home care staffing requirements) and Pharmacy (supplies the medications the patients require). As a result, all of these departments must communicate effectively on every single patient. AbilityCRM, using Microsoft Dynamics CRM, implemented a program that became the cornerstone of the company s sales team and their patient tracking responsibilities. AbilityCRM then helped them mold Microsoft Dynamics CRM into an integral sales management tool that in turn allowed the customer service department to access centralized core CRM data easily and efficiently. AbilityCRM also helped the HITP migrate 1,500 Outlook contacts (including doctors, case workers and hospital staff) into Microsoft Dynamics CRM and integrate the HITP s electronic health records (EHR) to ensure the company was current with any compliance requirements. Key Benefits According to Long, a key benefit with Microsoft Dynamics CRM is its cloud-based availability. By using a cloud-based system with AbilityCRM, we didn t have to support another server or another software package in-house, Long pointed out. With a cloud-based CRM system, the HITP pays a reasonable subscription cost versus an initial large capital expenditure and the associated on-premise management expense involved with keeping the software current. Using a cloud-based CRM system also allows the HITP to easily and economically roll out the core platform to other companies the HITP might one day purchase or be integrated into. The HITP also utilized AbilityCRM to embark on a series of detailed meetings that entailed a comprehensive discovery process to understand the company s requirements. It was critical that we first defined our internal processes because that wasn t being done, Long said. That was highly valuable because we really didn t have a solid management or patient tracking process in place... and just establishing the CRM ourselves would have made no sense because there was nothing in place to manage. care of the HITP s infusion therapy patients. Where Do We Go From Here? In the years ahead, CRM technology will only continue to evolve and improve. And as companies become increasingly mobile with their portable computer devices, so too will CRM become an integral mobile tool that will continue to make a positive impact on a company s customer service quality, internal/external communications, sales and marketing efforts, revenue generation and ultimately profitability. With the Microsoft Dynamics CRM system in place, the HITP is experiencing a dramatic decrease in traffic because staff can now access a central database of information to ensure patient cases are tracked more carefully. AbilityCRM is poised to engage with home infusion therapy providers to implement their own CRM solution that will help them provide the highest levels of patient care, streamline their daily operations and meet their customer service objectives. 6

7 If you d like to learn more about AbilityCRM and how we can help your company realize the benefits of using a Microsoft Dynamics CRM solution, please contact us at: AbilityCRM N. Frank Lloyd Wright Blvd., Suite 16 Scottsdale, AZ Tel: Info@AbilityCRM.com Web: Resources Another Try for Medicare Home Infusion Coverage. Homecaremag.com Bishop, Michelle S. The Total Economic Impact of Microsoft Dynamics CRM Forrester Research, Inc., May 2011 The Right Dose: Home infusion therapy meets market need, provides growth opportunity. Homecaremag.com About AbilityCRM AbilityCRM has both a Microsoft Gold CRM and a Microsoft Silver Hosting competency along with being a Sage SalesLogix Certified Business Partner. In addition to implementing both Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 and Sage SalesLogix CRM software, AbilityCRM utilizes multiple business partners with related technologies to complement these CRM systems and help businesses increase profits. AbilityCRM started providing CRM software solutions in Since then, the company has helped hundreds of small and medium-sized businesses in many markets throughout the US improve their business processes and productivity. In May 2009, AbilityCRM launched AlwaysOn-CRM.com, their Private Cloud Based CRM/ XRM system to help SMBs receive all the benefits of a CRM system without the hassle of hosting it themselves. Over the years, AbilityCRM has maintained a firm focus on how an effective CRM system can help customers improve sales, marketing, customer service and support. They take pride in addressing the three major components of CRM success people, technology, and resistance to change to encourage and support growth companywide. As a result, the AbilityCRM team is a valuable business partner that understands Customer Relationship Management, project management, implementation methodology, systems integration, business ownership, business development, sales, marketing and training. 7