OREANDA-NEWS. December 30, 2014. McKesson Specialty Health announced that its Reimbursement, Access & Safety Services Solution Center has earned certification by BenchmarkPortal as a Center of Excellence for the sixth consecutive year.

One of the most prestigious awards in the customer ser¬vice and support industry, the Center of Excellence distinction is based on best-practice metrics drawn from the world’s largest database of objective and quantitative data that is audited and validated by researchers from BenchmarkPortal. Out of thousands of call centers within all industry segments in North America, the McKesson Specialty Health Solution Center was recognized as a 2014 top 100 call center, as well as a top ten center in the large-size category for healthcare support services.

“Achieving our sixth consecutive Center of Excellence Award from BenchmarkPortal demonstrates a tradition of excellence and a commitment to maintaining a culture of quality,” said Heather Morel, vice president and general manager, Health Informatics, Reimbursement, Access & Safety Services for McKesson Specialty Health. “As a leading healthcare services organization, receiving this rigorous certification for yet another year provides assurance to patients, healthcare providers and manufacturers that we have an excellent program in place managed and staffed by highly skilled, dedicated individuals who are committed to delivering world-class service,” she noted.

The McKesson Specialty Health Solution Center is a state-of-the-art facility located in Scottsdale, Arizona, that features industry leading technology, infrastructure and operations designed to maximize patient access to therapy. Its 900 seat contact center facilitates approximately 12 million patient and provider transactions for more than 300 products annually, providing a wide variety of services on behalf of pharmaceutical manufacturers for therapies in oncology, rheumatology and other areas. From reimbursement hotlines to patient assistance and educational programs, risk evaluation and mitigation strategies (REMS), as well as data gathering and marketing services, the Solution Center consistently delivers exceptional support to patients and providers, acting as the first line of interaction for pharmaceutical and biotech manufacturers.

A service center that is certified as a Center of Excellence by BenchmarkPortal must meet or surpass rigorous standards of efficiency and effectiveness. This certification is unique in the industry in that its achievement is strictly based on the center’s meeting or exceeding a number of key performance indicators (KPIs) established by BenchmarkPortal. BenchmarkPortal audits and verifies the KPIs and compares that data to statistics from other peer organizations in the same industry. Those contact centers that demonstrate superior performance on both cost-related and quality-related metrics compared with their industry peers earn the award. This is much more rigorous and different from other types of contact center certifications that typically focus on less results-oriented measures. The designation as a Top 100 call center is based on a more limited set of KPI metrics and compares the participant’s metrics across all industries.

“We congratulate McKesson Specialty Health’s Solution Center on earning its sixth consecutive certification as a Center of Excellence,” said Bruce Belfiore, CEO, BenchmarkPortal. “This is a significant achievement within the service and support industry and demonstrates their long-standing commitment to providing customers an innovative, efficient customer service program that stresses service excellence and cost-effective service strategies,” he concluded.