To find out more, we sat down with Patient Support Manager, Charlene Rowe, to learn the ins and outs of what it takes to become part of Releaf’s Patient Support Team, and why it's such a worthwhile, and rewarding, role.
Here’s what she had to say:
So Charlene, who are the patient support team?
“Releaf’s Patient Support Team are here to support patients throughout their journey with medical cannabis.
Whether that’s helping new patients navigate the sign-up process, assisting during the documentation process, or even helping patients request a travel certificate that would allow them to travel abroad with their medical cannabis, we’re here to help every step of the way.
We know that everyone is an expert in their own health, so we work with each patient closely to achieve the best possible outcome for them as an individual, and develop a rapport that ensures they can come to us with any questions or concerns they may have.
At the moment, the team consists of myself, Patient Support Team Manager, and Patient Support Coordinators, Yasemin, Leah, Serina, Shauna, and Natalie - but we are in the process of training up a few new team members, so watch this space!”
What would you say are the most common reasons people get in touch with the Patient Support Team?
“Last month, the patient support team received 1936 calls, and I’d say we deal with lots of different things on a daily basis, but the most frequently asked questions tend to be about documentation.”
Questions about medical cannabis prescription process
“For those who are new to medical cannabis, or still considering it as a possibility, people typically contact us to find out more information about the documents they need to sign up with. This might be what they need to prove they have a specific condition, or have tried a certain medication before.
For patients who are currently being treated by Releaf, I’d say the most common reason is also documentation. But, in their instance, asking if they can have a letter or proof from us that show they are using medical cannabis, or they may have questions about their prescription, or if medical cannabis will show up on their summary of care record.”
Questions about our unique Releaf services
“Sometimes we do get calls asking about our health-tech platform, and how to navigate it. This is usually patients who are of the older generation, and I am working on a way of making this more clear by getting some video examples created, but for now we’re happy to talk them through their dashboard over the phone.
For example, just yesterday, one of the team spent an hour on the phone to a gentleman fast approaching the age of 90 who was struggling with Apple Pay, but, we got there, and hopefully he'll be confident doing it on his own next time.”
Questions about medical cannabis patient rights
“At Releaf we issue travel certificates to patients that need to take their medicine abroad, and because of the time of year that’s also quite a common request right now.
In these cases, we always tell patients to contact the country of the embassy they are planning on visiting as well as taking their travel certificate, and advise them to check out the travelling with medical cannabis section in our education hub, so they’re fully informed before they go.
We do get a few requests for advice on patient's rights when it comes to medical cannabis and driving, renting, or employment too, and for these calls we refer patients to the Releaf blog because we’ve got some great articles that cover those subjects.
So, we get contacted for a whole host of reasons really, but we’re happy to assist in any way we can - it’s what we’re here for.”
And as Patient Support Team Manager, what does your typical day-to-day involve?
“The first thing I do when I log in is look at our stats from the previous day, to see how many ‘tickets’ or tasks we completed, and, if there are any left over that I need to prioritise today.
Next I’ll look at the appointments booked in, I’ll see what volume of consultations we have, and double check that the doctors will be able to see them as scheduled.
If the appointments can’t go ahead as planned for any reason, such as staff absence, I’ll make the necessary changes and get the patient booked in with someone else, and if there are any free appointments that day we will look at getting those filled in as soon as possible.
Once they’re sorted, I move on to managing any new procedures, policies, or processes we’re implementing. For example, at the moment we’re working on building a new process for patients in palliative care, so they can receive additional support from the team if needed, and for that we’re designing a new streamlined system.
I’m always on hand to support the team throughout the day if they do need any help with their patient queries or concerns, and to oversee any complaints or safeguarding concerns if they crop up, but the team is fabulous, and we’re currently hitting our service level agreement targets 100% of the time.”
What is Releaf’s service level agreement?
“Releaf’s service level agreement ensures that we get back to patient requests within three hours. We don’t leave people on hold for hours, and they don’t have to call us repeatedly because the phone line cuts off - we have a voicemail service.
If we can’t get to their call immediately, all patients have to do is leave us a message with a brief description of why they’re calling and their phone number, and we’ll get back to them within three hours.
There’s no awful hold music, or having to sit and hit redial 27 times, and we know that can make such a big difference. It’s something we’re really proud of, especially for such a small team!”
So, what does it take to become a Patient Support Team member?
“As well as being compassionate and personable, every member of the Patient Support Team has to be fully trained so they are equipped, and prepared, for any patient requests they may encounter, and this can take a few weeks.
This starts with basic training, using the Releaf website to learn all about medical cannabis treatments, and Releaf’s unique services, like our Starter Kit, and how the subscription service works.
Next, we guide new team members through Blue Stream, which is the e-learning platform we use. There are 13 Blue Stream courses PST members have to pass, ranging from subjects like GDPR and Data Protection, to modules on equality and diversity, consent, and autism awareness training, and this takes around three full days to complete.
Next, trainees are buddied up with qualified PST members so they can shadow them and watch how the team respond to tasks, or ‘tickets’ as we call them, in a live training environment.
Once they feel comfortable and confident, usually in their second week, they’ll start taking on tickets under supervision. This could be answering inbound calls or making outbound calls with another team member listening in the background in case they need any support, and by week three, they’re normally flying solo.
If the team do need any help, I am here to lend a hand, and we’ve also got open communication with the entire clinical team working at Releaf. Having worked for other medical cannabis clinics before in the past, I know how much of a difference this can make, because if there are any questions we need to refer to the doctors, we can do so directly - without delay.”
And finally, can you tell us some of the other things that you’re most proud of as Patient Support Team Manager at Releaf?
“As well as us hitting our service level agreements, one of the amazing accomplishments I’m really proud of is the training the patient support team are taking part in beyond what we require as standard. For example, myself, and Yasemin have both received medical cannabis diplomas, and while the rest of the team work towards achieving theirs, I’m working towards becoming a registered manager.
But I think overall, the thing I’m proudest of is the rapport the patient support team have built with Releaf patients. Every day, we get to hear life-changing stories, like how an 89-year-old patient can now move around without using their walker thanks to our treatments.
It’s not like working in a call centre for BT where we’re trying to sell a service. We’re all passionate advocates for medical cannabis, some of the team are medical cannabis patients themselves, and we all just want to help improve patient’s health outcomes, and offer them support throughout their journey.
We do work in a highly emotive industry, and we know the stakes are high for everyone we speak to, but when we hear how much of a difference these treatments can make, it makes it all worthwhile. It makes you want to wake up every day and speak to more patients, and ultimately, go above and beyond to help more people.”
