Unlocking Value: From Vendor to Strategic Partner
By Amy Ciampi, PharmD, MBA
As a pharmacist, I spent my career coaching and counseling people on steps they could take to positively impact their health. Every person standing in front of me came in with different tools they’d learned and different levels of trust in their healthcare providers. They almost all feared the unknown. If they were talking to me, they were embarking on a new treatment or asking questions about what the best remedy for them could be.
I loved the opportunity to become one of their trusted healthcare providers. Many people view their physician as their only provider. I like to think my role helped them realize they have a team of healthcare professionals that complement each other, look out for their best interest, and can make a real impact on their health.
I no longer work in a pharmacy. I’m not the person counting by 5’s, counseling on new medications, or calling doctors to talk about their patients’ medication needs. My career has evolved into partnering with clients to strategize on healthcare goals for their organizations and helping them achieve those goals.
It might seem like pharmacy and account management are worlds apart, but the truth is the gap to bridge these professions was not as big as I expected. As a pharmacist, attention to detail, problem-solving, and strong communication were crucial—traits that are equally valuable in account management. The ability to build relationships with patients translated seamlessly into fostering connections with clients.
The Account Management team at Crossover is made up of public health experts, clinical operations gurus, and healthcare advocates. While we all have different backgrounds, we all work with our clients to find the right strategy for them to deliver the best care for their employees.
Crossover Health’s Approach to Strategic Account Management
At Crossover, Strategic Account Management takes a proactive and systematic approach to managing and growing a company’s most important customer relationships. The goal is to create mutual value and achieve sustainable growth for both the client and Crossover. We approach Strategic Account Management as a team. That team includes an Account Principal, an Associate Account Principal, a Program Manager, and a Client Success Manager.
This team approach allows for consistent, comprehensive coverage of each account:
- Account Principal: Leads the client strategy and serves as an escalation point.
- Associate Account Principal: Manages the day-to-day relationship with the client and ensures execution of the strategy.
- Program Manager: Manages integrations and supports process improvements for the Medical Group.
- Client Success Manager: Develops and executes all engagement efforts.
The Account Management Team partners with the Medical Group’s clinical and operational leaders to form a triad for clinical and strategic support. Crossover’s “products” are the medical services we provide. The connection into the Medical Group via the triad gives the Account Management Team clinical partners who understand the client’s employees. The partnership allows our Account Management Team to consider clinical quality and clinic optimization. This triad exists at the clinic level with the Associate Principal as well as at a national level with the Account Principal.
What does Strategic Account Management look like?
Account Planning
We work to develop customized account plans that outline specific goals, strategies, and actions tailored to each account. This involves understanding the client’s business objectives, challenges, and opportunities. Every account is trying to solve for something different. We partner to understand the need and plan TOGETHER so that our solutions solve our clients’ and their consultants’ needs.
Relationship Building
Establishing and nurturing relationships with key stakeholders within the client’s organization. This requires regular communication, trust-building, and demonstrating a genuine commitment to the clients’ and consultants’ success. Relationships are not all the same. We enjoy working with people. We love solving problems that are priorities for our clients. We aim to communicate clearly. We deliver on the desired timeline. We use triad partners to further understand the population and make appropriate recommendations. We don’t assume that everything is perfect, and don’t shy away from difficult conversations. We work to gain trust over time and move from a vendor to a strategic partner.
Value Creation
Focusing on delivering value beyond the clinical services offered. Working in healthcare, that value is usually connected to care access, member engagement, population health, or specific clinical and financial outcomes. Every client approaches this differently and we use our time together to help them identify what “value” means to them.
Collaboration and Alignment
Ensuring internal alignment within the company to support the strategic account. This involves cross-functional collaboration and a unified approach to addressing the client’s needs. Collaboration doesn’t just mean delivering the good news, it’s also about working through the hard conversations in a productive and solution-oriented manner.
Performance Measurement
Determining what key performance indicators (KPIs) are most important to the client and continuously monitoring and evaluating the performance of the Strategic Account Management efforts against them. KPIs and performance standards are used to assess progress and provide a comparison to care offered in the community.
Strategic Account Management is more than just a business practice—it’s a mindset that prioritizes long-term partnerships. We use our deep connections to our Medical Group partners to ensure we understand the population’s needs and preferences. We tackle challenges together. We work to help our clients accelerate their healthcare strategy by partnering on solutions that engage their employees in their health.
Interested in learning more about the value of Strategic Account Management?
Check out the overview of our webinar hosted by Crossover and a panel of employers, consultants and account managers:
Are You Relevant? Evolving Vendor Relationships Into Strategic Partnerships.