A New Paradigm For RTSM Customer Support

By Teresa Goodnough, Customer Support Lead (CSL), 4G Clinical

Pillars of Excellence to Redefine the Customer Experience

We’ve all had experience calling customer support, whether it’s for your cable, cell service or health insurance. How many times have you punched zero trying to by-pass the automated scripts just to get to a real live human being? You finally hear a voice (hallelujah!) and you realize very quickly that person cannot answer your question and transfers you to another line (or worse gives you another number to call). What seems like hours later, you finally get some sort of resolution, with perhaps additional follow-up to someone higher up that has more expertise in your issue.

Now imagine you have a patient sitting with you that traveled far and wide to get to your clinical site. You just need to do one small thing on your computer that should take a second and frustration ensues. The last thing you want to do it keep that patient waiting or worse tell them they need to come back.

That is why customer service is so important in the realm of clinical trials, with RTSM systems, at the site-level. Customer service/help desk models have evolved over time due to the growth in technology. Although there have been significant improvements in technology it needs to go hand and hand with a shift in the support services paradigm to close the loop.