Top Customer Service Issues and CustomerServ’s Call Center Expertise in the Medical Device Industry

CustomerServ’s Medical Device Call Center Vendors Combine Service Orientation with Regulatory Expertise

Change happens slowly in the highly regulated medical device industry. However, the rise in healthcare consumerism, pricing pressures and declining margins are tipping points compelling medical device companies to transition from a long-standing R&D-driven business model to a more service-oriented approach—one that caters to the expectations of all stakeholders in the healthcare value chain, including physicians, providers, payers and patients.

Another likely catalyst for disruption is Amazon. The online retail giant is making its foray into the medical device world bringing fresh thinking about customer-centric design, IoT, analytics and customer experience management.

For established medical device companies, the process of revamping an entrenched product-focused corporate culture during frequent regulatory changes, hospital consolidations and uncertainty about the future of the Affordable Care Act will no doubt be a challenging journey. An initial roadblock to overcome will be the industry’s legacy of isolation and a narrow focus on regulatory expertise.

Large-scale change will require an infusion of customer-centric strategy and values, along with a command of best-in-class service delivery. The customer contact channel and the insights it generates is increasingly critical to business success. The ability to effectively leverage customer data and feedback across segments to drive innovative end-to-end solutions and services will be the key to growth in an evolving healthcare landscape.

Top Customer Service Challenges for Medical Device Companies

Medical device manufacturers and MDR (Medical Device Reporting) leaders know that properly logging complaints within compliance of 21 CFR 820 standards is the utmost priority over everything. Therefore, customer service agents in medical device call centers—outsourced and captive—must ensure proper and timely complaint-handling. The prevention of late MDRs starts with in-depth understanding and robust training around logging complaints with post-market surveillance. 

The healthcare industry generally has not been known for its attention to customer service. Medical device companies likewise have focused a large part of their resources on R&D and regulatory compliance—thus, industry call centers have developed reputations for poor service and long wait times.

Top customer service challenges facing medical device companies include:

• Recruiting leaders who have call center expertise in addition to regulatory experience.
• Transforming a product-focused culture into one that is service-oriented, and driving culture change at all levels of the contact center.
• Establishing and maintaining procedures for customer complaint handling and reporting to ensure compliance with FDA regulations.
• Defining, setting and managing realistic expectations for service delivery and agent performance targets.
• Measuring agent performance against key performance indicators and coaching agents toward behaviors to reach set KPIs.
• Instilling in agents a sense of urgency for answering customers’ calls and responding to their issues in a timely manner.

CustomerServ’s Outsourced Medical Device Call Centers Deliver World-Class Service and Support

CustomerServ delivers end-to-end service solutions for medical device companies including CGM–Continuous Glucose Monitoring, CPAP–Continuous Positive Airway Pressure and others.

Our vendors are experts in both call center operations management and MDR compliance. In addition to providing best-in-class service and support to enhance customer loyalty across the healthcare value chain, our outsourcing providers add value through customers insights and data that drives innovation and profits. CustomerServ’s medical device call center vendors provide the following solutions:

• Wellness counseling
• Patient support
• Caregiver support
• Technical support and help desk
• App and mobile support
• Customer service and sales
• Live chat, email and SMS Support
• Social media support
• Data entry and back office support
• Billing and adjustments
• US-based, nearshore and offshore support
• Brick/mortar and work-at-home agents
• MDR (Medical Device Reporting) compliant call centers
• PCI, HIPAA, SSAE, ISO compliant call centers
• FDA 21 CFR Part 820 compliant
• Bi-lingual and multi-lingual call centers