spoc: the logical choice for supporting your investigative sites
DESCRIPTION
TRANSCRIPT
OHSUG 2013 – Miami, FL
Kevin Shea, C3i
SPOC: The logical choice for supporting your investigative sites
September 2013
2 April 7, 2023© 2013 C3i, Inc. Confidential and Proprietary to C3i, Inc.
Key Points
» Sites are required to utilize a variety of technologies as part of clinical trials
» Help Desks are integral to high quality site performance in clinical trials
» A Single Point of Contact help desk supporting all technologies utilized by your clinical sites provides tactical and strategic advantages:
Efficiently monitor all technical issues at sites
Enhance site satisfaction
Realize economic benefits
3 April 7, 2023© 2013 C3i, Inc. Confidential and Proprietary to C3i, Inc.
Agenda
» Overview
» Sites and Clinical Trial Technology
» Overview of Help Desk for Investigative Sites
» Help Desk Basics
» Conclusion
» Questions
4 April 7, 2023© 2013 C3i, Inc. Confidential and Proprietary to C3i, Inc.
Overview
» Investigative site users are challenged: Focus on clinical practice
Maintain proficiency on all technologies
Perform clinical trial tasks with efficiency and quality
» Each technology required by investigative site users must be supported
» Help desks agents must be able to: Triage calls from site personnel
Address/Resolve as many issues as possible
Escalate more complex issues
Track all issues
Follow-up with user to ensure resolution
» Trials have become: More complex
More reliant on technology
5 April 7, 2023© 2013 C3i, Inc. Confidential and Proprietary to C3i, Inc.
Sites and Clinical Trial Technology
» Sites are required to manage more complex trials and maintain proficiency on an increasing categories of technology solutions
» Typical technology solutions: EDC
IVR
ePRO
Portals
» Global aspect of trials means language and cultural barriers across the participating sites
» More sites participate in multiple trials, for more than one sponsor/CRO
» Multiple vendors used for same purpose: Difficult for site personnel to establish and maintain proficiency
Use of given type of system driven by enrollment, number of studies, etc.
» Attrition/turnover at sites complicates training and knowledge of proper use of technology
6 April 7, 2023© 2013 C3i, Inc. Confidential and Proprietary to C3i, Inc.
Help Desk Services for Investigative Sites
» Help Desk (Tier 1) Initial line of contact
Triage the issue
Resolve if possible > Focus is on first-call resolution
Escalate as needed (Tier 2/3)
» Help Desk Agents Establish rapport with user – empathy, patience
Follow-up on escalated issues – consistency
Report back to user
Ensure closure/satisfaction
» Users Different types of users at sites – PIs to Data Entry
Focus is on completing tasks, not learning new systems
Site satisfaction is critical metric
Support for technology required by sites to complete tasks
7 April 7, 2023© 2013 C3i, Inc. Confidential and Proprietary to C3i, Inc.
Help Desk Basics
» Help Desk team can be dedicate or shared – volume, economics driven
» Interfaces for user interaction Email
Telephone
Chat
» Call Scripts Consistent Messaging
Accurate escalation
» Knowledge Objects Common knowledge across Help Desk
Up to date information
» Call logging and issue tracking
8 April 7, 2023© 2013 C3i, Inc. Confidential and Proprietary to C3i, Inc.
Help Desk Implementation
» Provisioning of interfaces Telephony – per country toll-free numbers
Email – common email address
Chat – distribute client
» Script development IVR
Call
Escalation
» Knowledge Object creation Information development
Coordination with sponsor/CRO and/or vendor
Agent training
» Configuration of call-tracking system
Initial setup most time-consuming – additional support incremental
9 April 7, 2023© 2013 C3i, Inc. Confidential and Proprietary to C3i, Inc.
Help Desk Management
»Service Level Agreements Contractual
Phased approach w/ new service
Abandon Rate, CSAT, 1st Call Resolution, Resolution Time, Escalation Rate
»Communications Meetings
Reports
»Subject Matter Expertise Knowledge Object
management
Back-up agents and QA
»Quality Assurance
Sampling
Compliance/Remediation
»Resource Management
Languages
Hours of operation
Training
»Metrics Tracking and Forecasting
Historical data
Trending
Forecast
10 April 7, 2023© 2013 C3i, Inc. Confidential and Proprietary to C3i, Inc.
Help Desk Economics
» Implementation phase costs Generally one-time only
Number of countries, number of languages
Largely independent of technology(s) supported
Similar effort for large and small user bases
Management effort is dependent on number of agents required (languages and anticipated call volume)
Templates allow for efficiency
»On-going costs Telephony and related system recurring costs
Agent desk – call volume, languages
Translation
Management
Reporting
11 April 7, 2023© 2013 C3i, Inc. Confidential and Proprietary to C3i, Inc.
Help Desk Re-Utilization for New Systems
» Establishment of a Single-Point of Contact Help Desk to handle site-generated issues across technologies
One contact point for site personnel
Consistent language capabilities
Maintenance of agent-site rapport
» Consolidation Agent desk – buffers against per technology volume fluctuations
Reporting – comprehensive - insights into site performance, issues, training
» Financial benefits Lower escalations over time
Single implementation can be extended as new technologies are added
Languages can be added or removed as site roster changes
Solution can be used across multiple trials, indications, phases
» Management Benefits One vendor, one cost model
Governance and control
Strategic partnership
12 April 7, 2023© 2013 C3i, Inc. Confidential and Proprietary to C3i, Inc.
Conclusions – SPOC Help Desk Benefits
» Sites are required to utilize a variety of technologies as part of clinical trials
» Help Desks are integral to high quality site performance in clinical trials
» A SPOC Help Desk that supports all technologies utilized by clinical sites provides:
Strategic value
Enhances site satisfaction
Economic benefits
» Logical choice
13 April 7, 2023© 2013 C3i, Inc. Confidential and Proprietary to C3i, Inc.
Questions
Contact Information:
Kevin Shea ([email protected]), Senior Director, Clinical Solutions, C3i. Kevin has been involved in the Pharmaceutical/Life Science industry for 13 years, with an emphasis on clinical technology, clinical data management, clinical operations, and associated business processes. He has Account Director responsibilities for multinational Help Desk clients and leads C3i’s Business Process Services offering, which is a set of Business Process and Application SaaS solutions in CDMS, EDC, Terminology Management, Safety, and CTMS.