This is the second installment of our five-part series based on content presented by Zipari CEO and President, Dr. Tabatha Erck. You can watch Dr. Erck’s entire presentation video here.
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A personal story by Dr. Erck–
A few years ago — when I wasn’t at Zipari — I joined a new health plan. I set up a member portal and signed in.
Within seconds, I had 47 emails in my inbox.
Holy cow, how could they know so much about me? I literally just joined less than 30 days ago. To my amazement, I clicked on the first one.
What does the headline say?
“People of your age.”
I don’t know about you, but that is not a friendly thing to say. So as I’m gritting my teeth, I read the rest of the note with a little bit of anger and frustration. Then, I clicked on the next one.
It started out again: “People of your age.”
Ma’am, you need to get your mammogram.
I’m like, “I have just joined your health plan less than 30 days ago. How do you even know if I’ve had a mammogram or not?”
I wound up calling that health plan and giving them some pointers on how to improve and customize their messaging. They are now a customer of ours today, by the way.
Through this experience, it dawned on me that there was immense, untapped potential for personalized, predictive, and patient-centered communication within health care. Because at the end of the day, consumers want to be talked to. They want that personalized message. They don’t like feeling like they’re just a number, or being put on hold. It’s their number one complaint.
By using outreach strategies that align with your members’ unique circumstances and preferences, health plans can connect with them on a deeper level, anticipate their needs, and ultimately elevate the quality of care they provide.
Predictive and personalized outreach allows you to proactively engage your members using targeted communications that meet them where they are on their health journey.
Through the use of various forms of data and member information, these communications anticipate member needs, preferences, and health risks. This enables you to communicate with them more effectively and foster more positive relationships with your members, which can lead to improved engagement, satisfaction, and retention.
There are three components to predictive and personalized outreach:
When you put it all together, you can build personalized communications that resonate more deeply with members, leading to greater member satisfaction, ratings, engagement levels, and most importantly, closing care gaps. Personalized and proactive communications also encourage members to adopt healthier behaviors, adhere to treatment plans, and attend preventative screenings.
Not only are personalized communications a powerful tool for connecting with members more deeply, they also are what consumers want and expect from their health plans today. According to Zipari’s 2022 CX Survey Report, 62% of Medicaid and 60% of Medicare members report that personalized health plan experiences would make them more likely to engage with their health insurance companies.
Listen to Your Members’ Feedback
A member advisory board can offer invaluable insights and perspectives that contribute to creating personalized communication experiences for members. It can also show you what’s working well, where you have the most potential to improve, and what members need for communications to be effective.
Overall, patient-centered, predictive and personalized outreach communications are not only important for meeting members’ evolving expectations, but they can also drive better health outcomes, reduce costs, and position health plans for long-term success in a rapidly changing healthcare landscape.
In an increasingly consumer-driven health care market, offering personalized, patient-centered, and proactive outreach sets health plans apart from competitors. By demonstrating a commitment to patient-centered care and leveraging technology to deliver tailored interventions, health plans can differentiate themselves, attract new members, and achieve better health outcomes for members.
With all that in mind, how do we get the right message in front of the right consumer, on the right channel, at the right time?
Zipari’s CX Engagement HubTM is the answer. Zipari’s solution for building member satisfaction and meeting your members where they are involves three key initiatives for your communications:
Coming up next: Strategy #3: Plan for Proactive and Preventative Engagement
Link to Strategy #1: Establish a Goal-Based Engagement Plan
Or request a demo with one of our solutions consultants.
