Harbor Path + BrainSell + Zendesk: Rethinking nonprofit customer service

The healthcare industry is notoriously regulated and complex. Working to combat the complexities and help those who need assistance the most, the nonprofit organization Harbor Path helps uninsured patients get the medications they need. Harbor Path’s Patient Assistance Program provides free access to life-saving medications for uninsured people living with chronic illnesses. While other Patient Assistance Programs (PAPs) are available, no one else can provide the actual medication,” said Ken Trogdon, president of Harbor Path. “We can approve patients via an online application and directly send them their medication, setting us apart from other providers in the same space.”

Harbor Path’s mission to provide easy-to-access patient services has consistently stayed top of mind in its ethos and support strategy. In 2012, the Harbor Path team built its in-house patient ticketing and support system to serve its customers better. However, as Harbor Path’s customer base grew, the company also outgrew its homegrown system.

Patient and donor expectations demand a data-driven customer service strategy

Before Zendesk, Harbor Path’s homegrown ticketing system didn’t allow agents to access analytics on customer data or the customer journey effectively. Without analytics, the Harbor Path team could neither identify key trends in the customer journey nor pinpoint areas of improvement.

As the company grew, Harbor Path faced two problems. First, donors began to expect a more comprehensive understanding of Harbor Path’s reach and audience. Without access to those key insights, it became difficult for executives to secure buy-in from potential prescription donors. “With our prior systems, we weren’t able to retroactively track that critical patient information, affecting our conversations with donors,” Trogdon said. “We desperately needed help tracking and understanding incoming inquiries and requests.”

Secondly, Harbor Path’s previous system wasn’t designed to scale with the company’s rapid growth. With aspirations of expanding across the United States and growing their medication portfolio, Harbor Path needed a solution that could meet their growing demand and rapidly expanding customer base.

Partnering with BrainSell to find the right solution

BrainSell works with organizations of all sizes to help with support service implementation. The growth enablement company specializes in end-to-end business software technologies and prides itself on its unbiased consulting. Harbor Path partnered with BrainSell to find a scalable support solution that could integrate patient data securely.

With a clear understanding of Harbor Path’s needs for a customer support solution, BrainSell recommended Zendesk. With BrainSell’s help and expertise, the Harbor Path team implemented Zendesk in just three months.

Data-backed customer service invigorates donor confidence

With Zendesk, Harbor Path now collects data for their prescription donors, such as the daily number of cases, the specific medications they need, as well as insight into additional patient needs. Access to data has been vital to strengthening relationships with prescription donors and reinforcing Harbor Path’s value to uninsured and under-insured patients.

“Zendesk has been a huge shot in the arm for us,” Trogdon noted. “We’ve been able to quickly gather the data we need to help donors and patients understand our impact. Zendesk’s flexibility helps us configure the platform to do exactly what we need it to do.”

Streamlined insights for amazing patient experience

Empowered with Zendesk’s analytical tools, Harbor Path strategically decided on their next prescription expansion. After digging into the data from patient inquiries, Harbor Path identified Naloxone as a new and worthy investment to help uninsured patients suffering from the current opioid epidemic.

“Zendesk is allowing us the efficiency to provide long-term insights that are critical for our growth,” Trogdon said. “For example, one particular state heavily relies on our program to connect their constituents with the medication they need due to the impact of COVID-19. This state continually asks us to provide a breakdown of patient records to help them secure funding from foundations and large state vendors. Before Zendesk, we wouldn’t have been able to provide the State the data they would need to secure funding.”

Harbor Path now has the data-driven insights they need to better serve patients in need while helping hospitals and healthcare providers offer the best care possible.