Medicare members require a distinct healthcare engagement strategy. At Carenet Health, our approach is rooted in our team’s ability to form nurturing relationships with members. It also leverages our proprietary Intelligent Engagement framework—combining the power of operational excellence and the most effective consumer engagement best practices.
The result is a fusion of data-driven personalization and genuine human interactions that is proven to empower Medicare members. For your health plan, that can mean improvement in member experience, Star ratings, HEDIS® scores, overall outcomes and costs.
When our clients talk to us about engagement services that help Medicare Advantage members take the next best step for their health (like scheduling annual well visits or making appointments for important preventive tests), we typically discuss three factors that are necessary for success—whether they choose Carenet as the partner for these elements or not.
1. Teams trained in empathy and Medicare population needs
Outreach teams, whether in-house or outsourced, need specialized training and coaching in not only motivational conversations that influence action, but also health literacy and senior sensitivity. (Here’s one case study that goes into more detail about this topic.)
2. One-to-one interactions that make member engagement meaningful
Personal connection drives trust and change. Successful Medicare population communication requires the leveraging of good data and teams of customer care representatives (we also call them engagement specialists, care coordinators and member services specialists) who know how to cultivate caring relationships with members. They can then use those interactions to educate and motivate, while identifying and solving for obstacles to care, with patience. Those conversations are typically had over the phone, but more and more, seniors are comfortable with texting and portal chats, as well.
3. Ongoing touchpoints that nurture relationships
Effective member engagement for seniors also requires more than one or two contacts per year. Your plan should have multiple member touchpoints strategically timed throughout the year that grow and strengthen the relationship and pick up on any concerns early and often.
Beyond gaps in care
When your health plan thinks about how to use relationship-based motivation in its Medicare Advantage member experience planning, we suggest you consider these opportunities, in addition to closing gaps in care, that will benefit from increased personal connection:
- Onboarding your members
- Bridging member and provider disconnects
- Boosting medication and treatment adherence
- Reducing unnecessary ER and urgent care visits
- Increasing disease management, wellness and other types of program enrollment
- Improving member survey completion (pre-CAHPS, for instance)
- Completing health risk assessments
- Identifying and addressing social determinants of health
- Improving utilization of benefits and member services
How can we help?
If you’d like to talk further about how to best communicate with your Medicare members, contact us today. You may also be interested in this ebook on relationship-building.
HEDIS® is a registered trademark of the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA).
