MTM cold call, any suggestions? any script?

[fxok425]

I just started my APPE in a chain. One of my projects is the MTM service. I have a list of patients eligible for MTM opportunity identified by a company. I made a few calls yesterday. I found it's easy to talk to a patient who fills RX in our store, but hard to talk to someone who is not a patient in our store. The program identifies a patient who had filled at least one RX in our store, but the DDI or adherence issue may be related to a RX the pt fills in another store or mail order. For example, I called a pt, I said: I am an intern pharmacist from xxx, then I was talking about a med she has never filled in our store. She said she filled it in Walmart, how did I get to know this? that's her privacy. She was freaking out and angry. I was wondering: maybe I shouldn't say I am from xxx pharmacy, I should just say I am calling on behalf of her insurance company? Also, some patients just hang up on me before I even could finish my first sentence. I think I need to write a script to make those cold calls. I totally understand them. I hang up lots of cold calls, such as lowering my interest rate, etc.
Any advice on this? Thank you.

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[type b pharmD]

I just started my APPE in a chain. One of my projects is the MTM service. I have a list of patients eligible for MTM opportunity identified by a company. I made a few calls yesterday. I found it's easy to talk to a patient who fills RX in our store, but hard to talk to someone who is not a patient in our store. The program identifies a patient who had filled at least one RX in our store, but the DDI or adherence issue may be related to a RX the pt fills in another store or mail order. For example, I called a pt, I said: I am an intern pharmacist from xxx, then I was talking about a med she has never filled in our store. She said she filled it in Walmart, how did I get to know this? that's her privacy. She was freaking out and angry. I was wondering: maybe I shouldn't say I am from xxx pharmacy, I should just say I am calling on behalf of her insurance company? Also, some patients just hang up on me before I even could finish my first sentence. I think I need to write a script to make those cold calls. I totally understand them. I hang up lots of cold calls, such as lowering my interest rate, etc.
Any advice on this? Thank you.

Will pm you later. Search forum for outcomes mtm. Theres a good thread with tips. Writing scripts is very helpful at first. Say youre a pharmacist calling on behalf of insurance company .. say they are eligible for a free pharmacist review of meds. Tell them you are calling to help them make sure their medications are working (actually works more than expected with old people)

Mentioning free services (stress that it is a covered benefit and people will tend to get more excited) also helps a lot.

You shouldnt be getting a lot of people hanging up on you. I would say a good response rate at first would be 10% .. if you can hit that consider yourself on track. Maximizing billable claims is another bag of worms but trust me you will get better as you go.

My first days of MTM cold calling were a nightmare... but by the end of the rotation I was having a blast. Youlll get better.

I would also recommend targeting retired people first to get your feet wet. Commercial population tends to get more miffed about wasting their time... medicare peeps seem to generally have a lot of time on their hands.

Another tip: dont start off with their adherence or nonguideline-therapy intervention. .. start by offering to help them with their medications, maybe query their disease state status. .. this tends to get people interested and talking... then youll discover they have a gold mine of claims or medication problems. Dont be afraid to skip the original claim if you have others...

This should get you off to a good start. If you are able to be billing $50-100/day by the end of your second week I would say pat yourself on the back. With a population of about 20 stores or 10-20,000 people, it is possible however to hit $50/hour even as a student.

HTH.. feel free to pm if you have specific questions.

 

[type b pharmD]

Another tip I forgot.... dont get overly obsessed with CMR's at first. . Yes theyre fun and all touchy feely and you get to use those "clinical review skills" but really they are a time sink until you have gotten your skill level up at cold calling. You can run a successful mtm practice without even doing them... and the cool clinical cases will show up on adherence calls much more often than you think .. especially once youve gotten some phone interviewing skills

 

[TLAD123]

I just started my APPE in a chain... I was wondering: maybe I shouldn't say I am from xxx pharmacy, I should just say I am calling on behalf of her insurance company? ...

Do not do this. Explain that your system (outcomes, whatever) is able to view claims (provided by her insurance), even if at another store - it is not a violation of privacy since health care data is permissible by law to be shared between health care professionals in order to ensure optimal patient care (if you say anything). Follow above advice though from other posts.

 

[BenJammin]

Yeah, don't tell them you're calling them on behalf of the insurance company because that's fraud. You'll have more luck reaching out to older patients because younger adults like myself screen calls.

 

[atlrph]

Time to sell used car on the side.

 

[type b pharmD]

Yeah, don't tell them you're calling them on behalf of the insurance company because that's fraud. You'll have more luck reaching out to older patients because younger adults like myself screen calls.

How so? When you do MTM .. you are providing a clinical service at the behest of the insurer, for the insurer's benefit. Not to mention you are employed/paid by them to perform the service.

Absolutely not fraud

 

[BenJammin]

How so? When you do MTM .. you are providing a clinical service at the behest of the insurer, for the insurer's benefit. Not to mention you are employed/paid by them to perform the service.

Absolutely not fraud

You are doing a service on behalf of Outcomes MTM, Mirixa, etc. You are not a representative of any insurance company, the MTM company is. It's fraud to say that you are working for the insurance company.

 

[jmoini]

You are doing a service on behalf of Outcomes MTM, Mirixa, etc. You are not a representative of any insurance company, the MTM company is. It's fraud to say that you are working for the insurance company.

totally agree