BCBS is now the largest health benefits provider in America, serving more than 99 million people in all regions of the country. Managing and maintaining a robust communication network to allow these offices to collaborate effectively, is not a simple task.

Industry regulations and a practical application

As part of the highly regulated drug development industry, standards require ClinicAid to possess data systems with built-in version controls, audit trails and levels of security critical to ensure data integrity. This known aspect of the process would prove to make their search increasingly difficult and bring them close to spending over $30,000 for a solution. This industry-specific need was complicated by ClinicAid's practical requirement for the chosen system to be as comprehensive as possible, including a system addressing the need for MS Exchange functionality, CRM tools, project management, document management and a sophisticated web conferencing tool.

An uncommon demographic with a need for change

ClinicAid is an organization comprised of experienced industry professors and scientific researchers, thus, the need for a highly intuitive, user-friendly product is paramount. The chosen application required a simple enough user interface to promote rapid deployment while providing seamless integration with their existing systems.

The existing collaborative approach within ClinicAid was patchy and ad-hoc. A series of word documents were circulated via email to inform employees internally of events, including meetings and due dates. MS Project was utilized by the Project Management team to track projects and tasks; however, this solution was limiting in its inability to share information across multiple parties and traveling employees. Complicating this, they began to see overlap in calendar events as a real time update did not exist with the email system, causing multiple events to be scheduled concurrently. The status of any given project was only viewable by the individual overseeing the project, bringing projects to a standstill with employee absence and providing a system with inherently limited managerial oversight.

It became increasingly clear that, in order to sustain its position and progress, ClinicAid required a more efficient and robust collaboration solution.

The travails of medical sales

In a competitive and service intensive sphere like medical equipment sales, companies need to have an extremely agile sales force. Quick responses are required to follow and close geographically scattered sales leads, and to provide extensive equipment training and support on demand. Selling is highly personalized as sales persons need to educate medical professionals about the features and benefits of their products extensively. Wright meets these rigorous demands through its expansive and flexible network of Independent Sales Representatives. Our sales team is spread across several states and work primarily from their home or car, says Gerald Wonneberg, Director of Field Communications for Wright.

Managing distributed teams

Communication is critical, because all instructions and support are provided remotely. Teams need to plan schedules, share reports and documents, exchange information on sales leads, and be motivated. Getting marketing documents to reps is particularly important considering the sensitivity of the field of reconstructive joint devices and biologics. Extensive materials on specifications & instructions are required to convince doctors and provide support. Moreover, this is an ongoing need since new products are constantly added to the line.

But the fact that sales reps were distributed & always on the run posed major coordination problems for Wright. WMT needed a way to support and maintain communication with its sales force, recounts Gerald. It was hard to track who was where, coordinate schedules, and efficiently provide instructions and support materials. We needed a way to view reps calendars and share documents, adds Gerald. Infrastructure Blues