Medical Information is a critical service within the health industry that can often be overlooked.
Thousands of healthcare professionals and patients use these support services to receive reliable and timely information regarding medicines, vaccines, and medical devices. At Commercial Eyes our Medical Information team is composed of highly experienced health professionals, and we pride ourselves on delivering the largest and most comprehensive Medical Services solutions across Australia and New Zealand.
To gain insight into the current landscape of the sector, we sat down with Stephanie, a member of our Medical Information team, for a discussion on her experience working at Commercial Eyes and the challenges she encounters when providing Medical Information services:
Daily responsibilities of a Medical Information Associate
Our day varies depending on how many enquiries we receive and their complexity. We start by checking our client’s inbox for any enquiries that may have come through overnight. Throughout the day, we respond to enquiries via various channels, including emails and phone calls, giving both verbal and written responses. We identify and prioritise cases that need to be responded to or submitted within that business day, such as clinically urgent questions, Adverse Events and Product Quality Complaints.
“I enjoy the exposure to multiple clients, medications, vaccines, and devices… you are learning so much that you are growing and developing daily”
The advantages of being a Medical Information Associate
I enjoy the exposure to multiple clients, medications, vaccines, and devices. Interacting with multiple clients that have different products and therapeutic areas broadens my horizons to diverse enquiries, which is such an invaluable experience. Not only is it extremely interesting to be able to have variability in enquiries, but you continue to learn, which leads to daily growth and development.
Challenges faced by Medical Information professionals in meeting the demands of consumers and healthcare professionals
The biggest challenge for Medical Information is that enquirers demand more information, knowledge, training, and advice from us immediately. New technologies and advancements, like ChatGPT, means this is becoming more commonplace. We often get enquiries from consumers and Healthcare Professionals requesting more information than what is available, with access to the answers straight away. Fortunately, at Commercial Eyes, our Medical Information Database stores all the literature search results, Frequently Asked Questions, and responses, so we can assist all the enquirers in a timely manner.
“The biggest challenge is that enquirers demand more information, knowledge, training, and advice from us immediately, particularly with technologies like ChatGPT becoming more commonplace”
Process of handling Medical Information enquiries and the measures taken to ensure quality and efficiency in providing accurate information
We really do pride ourselves on efficiency and quality, as we aim to respond and provide quality information in a timely manner. Our team understands the urgency of these enquiries, and that although final decisions are ultimately at the discretion of the prescriber, some choices do rely on the information we provide. We ensure that the information we provide answers the query to the best of our abilities, and depending on the type of enquiry, our responses are also peer reviewed to ensure the highest standard of information and responses are supplied.
A high-quality medical information service is an investment in patients and the healthcare system.
With the upcoming challenges and opportunities presented by new technologies, at Commercial Eyes we trust our gold standard systems and databases to navigate these obstacles and provide transparent, adaptive, and responsive medical and scientific information. Managing over 70 clients and 40,000+ medical enquiries each year we take our roles as advocates and service providers very seriously, understanding that accurate medical information is vital to the quality use of medicines, vaccines, and devices. If you are interested in outsourcing your Medical Information service to a high-quality Australian provider please contact us at [email protected].
“We really do pride ourselves on efficiency and quality… we ensure that the information we provide answers the question at hand to the best of our abilities and at a high standard”
For more information, please contact us at [email protected]
Lorenza Ricacho
Regional Head of Patient Safety
Lorenza has been with Commercial Eyes since 2011 and leads our Patient Safety and Risk Management team supporting our clients from the pharmaceutical, medical devices, generics & OTC, cosmetics sectors...
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