Member engagement looks different than it used to, and it takes work to lead individuals toward positive outcomes. Asking yourself why your member engagement efforts are falling behind? You may need to reframe your approach.
Compare member engagement strategies to find the best way to give your members value. Let’s look at what’s changing and how your plan can adapt to meet the moment.
Members need to be involved in their health to achieve positive outcomes, but member engagement only works when plans build their care models around individual needs. Member engagement typically fails for four reasons:
It might seem easier to treat all groups the same, but each one has different needs. Uniform approaches fail because they don’t flex to customize member engagement strategies based on the type of plan, member demographics and even the medical issues members face.
Think about the differences between Medicare and Medicaid. Medicare members might rely on family members to navigate their care and support services. On the other hand, Medicaid members might lack access to tools to enable engagement, such as Wi-Fi or digital devices. Engagement isn’t black and white.
It’s vital to get members on the right path toward recovery after they are discharged from the hospital in a way that feels supportive. Unfortunately, this aftercare may become disjointed.
Transitions of care services — moving from the hospital back home or to a nursing facility — are well-intentioned, but discharged members have a lot on their plates as organizations attempt to coordinate with them. The challenge is that each has different goals and often doesn't share information, creating a frustrating member experience. Luckily, there’s an easy fix: working together to develop the best care plan. The American Case Management Association provides a framework of five steps that parties can navigate together and create a positive member experience that sets the stage for success.
Members need to go from acknowledging their health needs to finding solutions and taking action to receive support and care — often facing barriers in between.
Mapping out touch points based on the plan’s end goal — such as scheduling specific preventive care appointments — is ineffective because those touchpoints might not align with member priorities or their health literacy level. Instead, you need to understand their journey to boost engagement.
You want to reach your members and get them involved in their health. Yet, when plans think too big and overcommunicate with members via email, snail mail, phone outreach and more, it may cause communication fatigue.
Instead, focus on how members respond to messages, the frequency of the messages and the channels you use. With new data on their preferences, you can better choose appropriate channels, messaging and timing to improve engagement.
Effective engagement goes beyond successfully getting members in the appointment book. The best member engagement strategies prioritize their individual needs to achieve positive outcomes. Reframe your approach toward activation over engagement. Start with three steps.
Engagement isn’t enough anymore; health care has fallen into a pattern of impersonal outreach or engagement washing. Instead of placing robocalls or sending appointment reminders, personally connect with patients and members to build trust and encourage positive health actions.
When members are struggling with ongoing non-medical drivers of health (NMDOH), such as loneliness and isolation, food insecurity, or lack of transportation, they might not be able to manage their health. Take steps to actively address NMDOH to improve their quality of life and health outcomes.
One way to do this is by connecting these members with vital resources so they can actually take care of themselves. Food box delivery programs make fresh, nutritious food and supplies accessible and also open the door to deeper support. As you build trust with members, it sets the stage to uncover additional NMDOH needs, so you can encourage members to take meaningful action.
Going the extra mile sets members up to engage with their health proactively. In addition to food boxes, consider adding benefits to support member education, such as:
When you build relationships with individual members, it’s much easier to understand what they’re facing and guide them toward appropriate resources and healthful actions. In fact, that trust translates to:
As the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services tightens its focus on clinical outcomes, plans need to enhance care coordination and close gaps in health care. By deeply personalizing care, you can reliably close care gaps to improve life for members and achieve health plan targets. Communicate with members through their preferred channels, such as phone calls or member portal messages, and improve member outcomes with the right care at the right time.
Meet members where they are to solve their problems. Start by replacing traditional member engagement with activation to motivate real, sustained action, and remember that one size doesn’t fit all. Each member has unique needs and circumstances, but you can offer an empathetic ear to listen and guide them.
Pyx Health helps your members thrive with a holistic approach to member activation. We combine empathetic care coordination with food box delivery and compassion-driven technology to give members crucial resources and encourage healthy behaviors. Get in touch to see what this could look like for your plan.