Average Cost of Training New Medical Information Call Center Agents Tops $16,000

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC--(Marketwired - March 21, 2017) - The most successful pharmaceutical companies allocate an average $16,900 annually per new call center agent, according to a business intelligence study by life sciences research firm Cutting Edge Information.

The study, Medical Information and Call Center Performance: Building New Practices to Meet the Evolving Needs of HCPs and Patients, found that training costs associated with new call center agents greatly outweigh the cost of training experienced agents, with the average annual cost of training experienced medical information call center agents at $6,400.

Of the surveyed US groups in the study, 75% manage to keep average agent training costs under $10,000 per new hire and per annual experienced agent training, but 25% spend significantly more at $15,000 per new hire. The data also show that compared to US groups, surveyed European teams spend significantly more to train their new hire agents. Two European companies report spending an average $30,000 and $40,000, respectively, per trainee.

"Medical information call center agents must be prepared to handle large call volumes and to deliver detailed, medically accurate information quickly," said Adam Bianchi, senior director of research at CEI. "To provide the best customer service, call center agents need to undergo thorough training."

Companies should maximize their new hire training impact by employing multiple training formats -- classroom sessions, self-guided programs, and live roleplay -- to prepare new hires for medical information call center responsibilities. Surveyed Top 10 and Top 50 pharmaceutical companies devote the largest percentages of their training time to self-guided programs (63.8% on average) and classroom-type settings (22.1% on average).

Medical Information and Call Center Performance: Building New Practices to Meet the Evolving Needs of HCPs and Patients details survey results and interviews with several of top life sciences companies' medical information and pharmaceutical call center teams. The report, available at https://www.cuttingedgeinfo.com/product/medical-information/, provides readers with in-depth analysis and benchmarks of the industry's most innovative companies.

With the best practices, innovative insights and call center metrics that this report provides, medical information executives will be prepared to demonstrate value and argue for more resources for their departments and for their pharmaceutical call centers. Other benefits of purchasing this study include:

• Benchmarking your medical information team, both internally and at the call center, against key performance indicators collected and analyzed in this study.
• Align budgets with call center volume and group responsibilities.
• Learn the advantages of implementing self-guided training programs to maximize efficiency.
• Boost efficiency by establishing clear processes for elevated calls.
• Explore call center operations for teams of different sizes and regions.

To learn more about the pharmaceutical call center and medical information study, please download the report brochure at https://www.cuttingedgeinfo.com/preview/medical-information-data/

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