New Kind of Account Manager Needed to Serve ACOs

ROANOKE, Va. - Jan. 29, 2014 - PRLog -- A passion to serve and educate your customer, rather than simply sell, is becoming ever more vital for account managers who deal with ACOs, medical practices, hospitals and health systems, according to a new whitepaper from the nonprofit CMR Institute.

As one of the “Seven Critical Competencies for Success,” acting as a consultant to your customer can pave the way to a stronger connection and secure access as physicians’ time becomes increasingly limited.  This and other insights into strengthening relationships with customers were drawn from CMR Institute’s Accountable Care Organizationconference, held in Philadelphia last October.

“My recommendation is to be the expert,” said Mark Callahan, MD, Executive Vice President, Chief Ambulatory Care Officer, and Dean for Clinical Affairs, Mount Sinai Health System and Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, during the ACO conference.  “Physicians are overwhelmed by the changes in the healthcare market. Account managers can play a valuable role by helping educate physicians so they can better navigate these choppy waters.”

“We have gathered the advice of thought leaders in the ACO and medical industries to create a new strategy for effective account managers,” said Michelle O’Connor, president and CEO of CMR Institute, which has been educating the pharmaceutical, biotech, and medical device industries since 1966.  “The key takeaway from the accountable care organization conference is the more you educate yourself, the better you can help your customers address their specific business issues…and the more valuable you become to them.”

By learning the business of accountable care, account managers can work toward shared goals with provider organizations. But before they can identify opportunities for collaboration, they must understand each ACOs’ new pain points.  By understanding these issues, account managers may be able to offer an appropriate solution, whether it is a new technology, program, or other service.

The whitepaper includes five more critical competencies and can be downloaded free at http://www.cmrinstitute.org/white-paper-seven-critical-competencies.aspx.

About CMR Institute

CMR Institute is the leading independent provider of non-branded education for the pharmaceutical, biotech, and medical device industries and has educated more than 150,000 professionals. Founded in 1966 by physicians in response to a need for increased therapeutic knowledge through scientific education, CMR Institute’s expert content is developed and updated by leading industry experts and distinguished thought leaders. CMR Institute’s not-for-profit status allows it to continually invest its resources in its library of education to realize its mission, which is to advance knowledge to enhance healthcare. To learn more about CMR Institute, visit www.cmrinstitute.org.