As competition grows, plans must deliver an engaging member experience to win their member’s trust and their renewal every year. Here’s how to do it.
The health insurance industry has often been compared to retail regarding customer experience. While retail industries receive praise for their seamless experiences, health plans are burdened by complex systems that disrupt member experiences and drive up costs. While health plans still need to be competitive in several dimensions, they now have the opportunity and motivation to learn from big box stores and consumer brands that have mastered extraordinary service in this age of app-enabled shopping and free curbside service.
Enhance Your Medicare Advantage Member Experience Strategy
Gone are the days when simply attracting members upon aging into Medicare was enough. Now, plans must craft comprehensive strategies that account for competition at every stage – from initial awareness to retaining existing members to enticing others to switch.
Health plans can adopt the strategies employed by successful retail brands to engage hard-to-reach seniors to stand out, including:
Innovating Products for Medicare Advantage Members and Effectively Communicating the Maximum Benefits Throughout Their Journey
Beyond medical, dental, and vision, health plans need consumer-level products to increase satisfaction. By providing financial wellness, incentives, free wearables, and health and wellbeing programs, plans can deliver personalized experiences that rival retail brands to foster loyalty and improve member satisfaction. However, simply making these benefits available is not enough. Health plans must also use predictive analytics and effective multi-channel communications, like text, direct mail, social ads, landing pages, and IVR, to engage with members and meet them where they are. By taking cues from the retail industry and using a variety of communication channels, health plans can improve their marketing efforts and increase customer loyalty.
Simplifying the Member Experience
Rather than competing against yourself, design targeted campaigns from one central place that help members take a desired action by using predictive member data insights to tailor the message and channel to individual preferences. This approach builds a more meaningful and less transactional relationship with members.
Break Down Barriers
In 1937, the world saw the birth of the first shopping cart – a simple metal frame adorned with wire baskets on wheels. Fast forward to today, and the focus has shifted to engaging seniors online, ensuring their initial orders are a breeze.
Grocers have recognized the importance of providing personalized assistance to seniors, just like they would receive from friends or family. To achieve this, they’ve established dedicated senior support lines, enabling phone and online orders to offer the same care and attention.
Now, imagine applying this innovative mindset to healthcare. The Surgeon General has identified a new crisis disproportionately affecting older adults – loneliness. This revelation presents an opportunity for health plans to break down barriers and make a difference.
Health plans can become differentiators and loyalty builders by providing emotional and social connections. Just as grocers have embraced senior support, health plans can address this crucial issue and help seniors feel connected and cared for.
Are you ready to make a lasting impact on your Medicare Advantage members? Download the infographic Leveraging Retail Tactics for Health Plans: Engaging Hard-to-Reach Seniors for more ideas.
Virgin Pulse is uniquely positioned to help you make sense of and engage your Medicare Advantage members, who are not the stereotypical “seniors” of yesterday. We combine extensive experience with consumer-level data, multi-channel communications to address two common and fundamental needs:
· Making sense of older adults with services such as appending the data you have today and helping you understand how to meet members where they are right now
· Driving action and results through multi-channel communications
Schedule a demo to see Virgin Pulse’s member experience solutions for health plans.