Expect More When It Comes to Distribution of Life Saving Drugs for Patients

By: Q Smith

Read time: 3 minutes

Your biopharmaceutical company’s specialty drugs can be as fragile as the health of the patients who need them. It’s imperative that drugs are stored, packaged, shipped, and delivered to reach your patients at the right time and in the right condition to be most effective.

Comprehensive business continuity plans can improve the customer distribution experience by focusing on key areas such as customer communication, efficient operation, and dependable delivery.

Customer Communication

Effective customer support can help direct customers on how to maximize the benefits of their distribution agreement. Dedicated customer service representatives solely focused on specialty products and distribution allows for expert customer support, readily accessible resources, and fast and efficient service. In addition, enhanced customer management systems provide real-time ordering information and assist with the ordering and fulfillment processes.

In addition, sales executives provide strategic feedback related to specialty purchases and can help customers optimize their spend and specialty portfolio of products. These sales executives provide guidance on various important topics including specialty distribution, quarterly business reviews, technical product knowledge, class of trade expertise, launch excellence, distribution agreement analysis, financial optimization opportunities, dynamic market updates, crisis management and consignment.

A communication framework can ensure timely and comprehensive communications to alert customers during all situations. This framework may include a crisis communication specialist, expedited customer notifications, and enhanced infrastructure.

Efficient Operation and Dependable Delivery

When it comes to delivery of life-saving medications, companies can ensure distribution redundancy through key partnerships and support for contingencies. Distribution partners should have appropriate warehouse space to serve as a redundant site to mitigate shortages. These sites should operate at strategic locations for customers, carriers, and delivery networks, helping to mitigate shipping delays.

For larger distributors, key partnerships across the company enterprise can allow distributors to work with local sites versus depending on third party carriers, creating an alternate distribution center.

In addition, health systems benefit when their distributor works with weather prediction companies to improve contingency planning related to inclement weather preparedness.

McKesson Provides an Exceptional Customer Distribution Experience

McKesson Plasma and Biologics provides dependable specialty distribution services through enhanced business continuity planning, key operational partnerships, timely communication, and customer support models.

Control drug spend and maximize efficiency with McKesson plasma-derived products, biologics, and specialty drug distribution for health systems, specialty home infusion, and retail pharmacies. Click to learn more about plasma-derived products, biologics, and specialty drug distribution for pharmacies.

About Q Smith

Q Smith is the Director of Special Projects, responsible for leading and managing various projects related to health systems strategic initiatives. In her previous role as Director of Sales Operations & Effectiveness for McKesson, Q was responsible for driving integration of specialty distribution within health systems in a dynamic market. She has over a decade of experience in and around health system pharmacy and is a results-driven professional with a passionate commitment to impacting organizational performance and achieving operational efficiency.

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