Weekly Byte: Aligning Breadth and Depth in Account Management
Each of us here at pMD takes pride in building and maintaining relationships with our customers. When it comes to account management, we make it a point to connect with every one of our practices on a regular basis. That list contains well over 500 practices with more than total 4500 medical providers using our charge capture, secure messaging, HIE, and care coordination products. At first glance, that’s a pretty daunting task for 24 employees to accomplish! Part of my job is structuring this initiative to best benefit our users, as well as helping the pMD team stay organized. Here are some best practices for large-scale account management our team has learned along the way:
Go in with a plan. It doesn’t do our customers or pMD any good to call a practice manager, ask him or her if things are going well with pMD, and then end the conversation after a yes or no response. Each quarter, my team and I identify a specific topic or new feature to focus on and outline about four targeted questions to ask each practice. This helps us dig into both the customers’ current workflows in addition to setting the stage for the potential introduction of new pMD functionality.
If things don’t go according to plan, be flexible. While our new automated discharge alerts might be extremely helpful for a 35-provider gastroenterology practice, that feature may be less relevant to a solo infectious disease doctor who is just starting his own practice. When I called that infectious disease doctor earlier this week, I quickly switched gears to tell him about our progress note functionality. He will be able to implement this when he establishes his outpatient clinic later this summer, saving him thousands of dollars that he may have spent on a separate EHR software if he hadn’t known pMD could accomplish the same thing.
Plan ahead. Maintaining customer relationships is always an ongoing task. It’s helpful to establish regular (weekly, monthly, or quarterly) meetings with practices so we have the opportunity to discuss new topics. It’s also helpful to plan several weeks out and schedule meetings in advance, especially as we approach summer and vacation season!
Be prepared to receive feedback and schedule follow ups. pMD is not a one-size-fits-all product, and that’s true for new features as well as our core products. Our relationships with customers are two-way streets, and these meetings are always an opportunity for us to learn more about industry changes and what new functionality our users need to best do their jobs. A doctor’s feedback today could contribute to the next highlighted feature we introduce this fall.
I’ve had the opportunity to visit with many of our practices both in person and over the phone this spring. Some highlights from these meetings include: a small update to a group’s setup that saved an administrator hours of sifting through reports, hearing some very cute stories about a coding manager’s young children, and even receiving some tips from a doctor to maximize my own texting efficiency.
Account management at pMD is about far more than checking a Yes or No box. Our outreach is an extension of the great relationships we already have, a chance to learn from our customers, and an exciting opportunity to share new features that help our practices get the most out of our software.
Go in with a plan. It doesn’t do our customers or pMD any good to call a practice manager, ask him or her if things are going well with pMD, and then end the conversation after a yes or no response. Each quarter, my team and I identify a specific topic or new feature to focus on and outline about four targeted questions to ask each practice. This helps us dig into both the customers’ current workflows in addition to setting the stage for the potential introduction of new pMD functionality.
If things don’t go according to plan, be flexible. While our new automated discharge alerts might be extremely helpful for a 35-provider gastroenterology practice, that feature may be less relevant to a solo infectious disease doctor who is just starting his own practice. When I called that infectious disease doctor earlier this week, I quickly switched gears to tell him about our progress note functionality. He will be able to implement this when he establishes his outpatient clinic later this summer, saving him thousands of dollars that he may have spent on a separate EHR software if he hadn’t known pMD could accomplish the same thing.
Plan ahead. Maintaining customer relationships is always an ongoing task. It’s helpful to establish regular (weekly, monthly, or quarterly) meetings with practices so we have the opportunity to discuss new topics. It’s also helpful to plan several weeks out and schedule meetings in advance, especially as we approach summer and vacation season!
Be prepared to receive feedback and schedule follow ups. pMD is not a one-size-fits-all product, and that’s true for new features as well as our core products. Our relationships with customers are two-way streets, and these meetings are always an opportunity for us to learn more about industry changes and what new functionality our users need to best do their jobs. A doctor’s feedback today could contribute to the next highlighted feature we introduce this fall.
I’ve had the opportunity to visit with many of our practices both in person and over the phone this spring. Some highlights from these meetings include: a small update to a group’s setup that saved an administrator hours of sifting through reports, hearing some very cute stories about a coding manager’s young children, and even receiving some tips from a doctor to maximize my own texting efficiency.
Account management at pMD is about far more than checking a Yes or No box. Our outreach is an extension of the great relationships we already have, a chance to learn from our customers, and an exciting opportunity to share new features that help our practices get the most out of our software.
