14 Mar The Power of Personalization: Using Data to Drive a More Tailored Member Experience

Five required focus areas a health plan should master to provide a truly personalized member experience

Everywhere we look, we are seeing an explosion in the volume of data being produced and collected. We are living in a full-scale data revolution, with at least 2.5 quintillion bytes of data produced each day.

The healthcare industry is responsible for 30% of the world’s data volume and this percentage is expected to grow. We are investing so much in collecting this data, yet health plans struggle to make the best use of it. How can data be better leveraged? You can use all this information available to drive a more tailored experience for your members.

Members are expecting more, especially when it comes to receiving a personalized and engaging experience. If you want to see increased engagement and retention rates, higher customer experience scores, and improved STAR ratings and HEDIS scores, it is increasingly necessary to meet these expectations.

Ready to provide your members with the experience they want, but not sure how to get started? Here are five things you can do as a health plan that use data to provide a truly personalized member experience:

1. Use personal health data to share customized content

Whether it’s demographics, health status and conditions, coverage, claims, utilization patterns, or engagement levels – any piece of information can be used to drive a unique and dynamically changing experience for your members.

Consider a personalized experience for a female member who just entered her 40’s. It’s time for her to schedule a mammogram, but your health plan notices she hasn’t had one yet. You can share a tailored message with this member about scheduling a mammogram with an in-network radiology and imaging center near her. Follow up with an article on what to expect during and how she can prepare for her first mammogram.

2. Guide plan shopping and enrollment with a tailored customer experience

When it comes to plan shopping and enrollment, customers often get overwhelmed by all the options available to them. Unsure of what they need, they struggle to pick a plan that will work best for them. Here’s where you can help make the process work for the customer: ask questions relevant to them to help them find the best plan. Once you collect their answers, use this data to show them options that make the most sense for where they are in their lives.

3. Give your members resources to improve outcomes

As a health plan, you have insight into every aspect of your members’ health and wellness. Take your investment in them a step further by providing them with personalized resources to overcome some of their top health challenges or to prepare them for upcoming health events.

Have you recently approved a prior authorization request for a member who needs knee surgery? Send them information through your member portal that helps them prepare. Give them tips for post-surgery recovery to ensure they heal properly and reduce their chances of hospital readmission. Share articles on what to expect once they come home from the hospital and recovery physical therapy tips to keep them on track after the procedure.

4. Share relevant and specific health plan coverage information for each member
Members want detailed information about their coverage on demand: Where do they stand on their deductible? How many chiropractor visits do they have left for the year? Use the data you collect to provide a member portal with access to member-specific benefit information and real-time accumulators, so your members know everything that is available to them through their benefits and how they can make the most of this valuable coverage.

5. Communicate with members regularly and with purpose

Engaging with your members is an ongoing process that will help keep your retention rate high! Focus on times throughout the year where it makes sense to communicate with your members.
Know based on the claim you received that they just went to their PCP for a wellness visit? Ask them how it went in a quick survey. Notice they had a recent conversation with a customer service representative through chat? Send a follow-up to make sure their issues were resolved.

You are collecting so much data and information about your members every single day. Repurpose this information in a meaningful way. Show you understand them as members and as people, and answer their questions and give them relevant information before they even realize they need it.

Get started today!

Your members deserve a high-quality experience when it comes to their healthcare. Taking these steps will put your health plan on the right path to driving a more tailored member experience. Not quite sure how to accomplish these or need a digital engagement platform that can support these efforts?

Contact HealthTrio to learn more about our personalization engine that delivers an individualized experience for everyone.