There are many unique challenges to be faced in the life sciences industry. With patient-centric business environments, increased pricing pressures and added legislative scrutiny, increasing operational efficiency and improving customer service are key.
According to a KPMG industry outlook survey1, the three top initiatives for management in life sciences include:
1) Navigating changes in the regulatory environment
2) Investment in organic growth
3) Improvement of operational processes and related technology.
Why must order processing be prioritised in the life sciences industry?
- Changing business models, e.g. spinoffs, M&As and divestitures may result in complicated and ineffective order processing systems.
- In the life sciences industry, orders may well be critical and indeed life-saving, and therefore accuracy is key.
- The majority of orders received from hospitals, clinics and practices are still fax or telephone based, meaning that paper-based processing and manual human intervention are relied upon heavily.
Esker’s AI-driven Order Processing automation solution is equipped with all of the features that allow life sciences companies to automate every phase of the order management process and the benefits are numerous:
- Increased control and visibility with intelligent and customisable dashboards, KPIs, and real-time tracking.
- Strengthened customer service as CSRs have more time to spend on the customer experience as opposed to manually keying in data, also resulting in more productive, engaged employees with greater job satisfaction. Customer issue management functions also enable improved customer care.
- Improved accuracy and efficiency and faster processing.
- Better forecasting.
- Ability to prioritise urgent orders via keyword detection tools.
- Lower operational costs.
- EDI exception handling.
Esker’s white paper Mastering Supply Chain Management In An Evolving Life Sciences Landscape, explains both the order management issues facing the sector, and how the benefits of automating order processing are nothing short of transformational.
If you are part of the Life Sciences industry and would like to understand more about how Esker can help your business specifically, get in touch, we’d love to hear from you!
1 Pharmaceuticals & Life Sciences Industry Outlook Survey: Executives Focus on Growth Despite Regulatory Challenges, 2012. KPMG LLP. PDF file.
