ACS buys TMS to boost communication & trial services
Acquiring TMS from private equity firm Palm Beach Capital gives Affiliated Computer Services (ACS), a Xerox company, a significant presence in the customer care services sector. This expands on information technology and business process outsourcing (BPO) ACS already offers.
Services provided by Florida, US-based TMS include clinical trial support. This covers centralised patient screening and enrolment, investigator recruitment, subject tracking, site support and participant retention.
TMS claims its team can create a custom clinical trial programme to help shorten time to market. This includes efforts to increase retention by following up with patients enrolled in a study to assure compliance and adherence.
Connie Harvey, group president, ACS Healthcare Payer and Insurance, said: “ACS is helping pharmaceutical companies make every customer interaction count – in a market that spends up to $12bn per year on marketing to its stakeholders.”
Communication services
A range of other communication services are also provided by TMS, including support for direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising. Biopharm conducting advertising campaigns can outsource the handling of resulting consumer inquiries to TMS which puts together an appropriate team.
TMS makes outbound calls to physicians to provide them with information about pharma products and services. Furthermore, TMS has a database of 52,000 pharmacists in retail pharmacies and uses this to provide information, collect stocking orders and manage rebate processing.
“By tapping into new BPO and IT services, and leveraging Xerox’s investments in technology, innovation and in document management, we will help clients communicate more frequently and effectively with the stakeholders”, said Guy Amato, CEO of TMS.
Amato, along with more than 600 TMS staff, will continue working at the company. In addition to taking on the staff ACS also acquires TMS’ client portfolio, which includes seven of the top 10 pharma companies. All offices will be maintained and plans to expand in Indiana are in place.
