First Year Communication – Building Loyalty and Trust
How can you deliver customized and personalized products, services, and experiences to members? You and your team need to begin with understanding your membership. Defining your membership by both value and their needs provides line of sight to information that will influence loyalty and trust.
Questions that should be asked by you and your team to better understand your customers to build loyalty and trust:
- Does the health plan know what the customer really wants and needs?
- Is there a shared understanding of who the health plan’s most valuable customers are and how to meet their needs?
- How does the health plan communicate with their members to better understand their needs?
- Is health plan customer data integrated and easily accessible across the health plan?
- Do the right employees have access to the right information about the health plan’s members?
- Does the health plan have knowledge of the current inventory of member touchpoints that exist today?
- How does the health plan define “member?” Who is the member?
- How is the health plan currently perceived in the market today, not just by current members but by prospects, providers, employers, and community influencers?
Now more than ever, websites are becoming the primary resource by which Medicare beneficiaries not only research health plans in the buying process but also seek out information regarding their coverage once they are enrolled. The member website can support member communication by being clear and easy to navigate and, most importantly, by including a password-protected Member Portal. The Member Portal should include the following:
- Calendar of local events
- Health screening reminder banners
- Monthly member newsletter
- Real-time access to:
- Eligibility
- Benefit information
- Formulary information
- Claims information and status
- Care gaps information
- Wellness resources
- Access to plan documents
Diane Hollie, Gorman Health Group’s Senior Director of Sales & Marketing Services, says, “Medicare beneficiaries, especially baby boomers, want to access information in the format they are most comfortable with, and, for many, that is the web. Many beneficiaries want to access their information online, and having a strong interactive member web experience that is easy to navigate will reinforce the health plan’s initiative to drive first year communication.” This first year communication builds a foundation for future dialog that provides the member with valuable and time-saving information relating to the member’s personal healthcare.
Trust is essential to Medicare beneficiaries, and building relationships with members will harvest that trust. Taking an interest in your clientele, cultivating shared values, and implementing solutions to customer inquiries will support any customer service department in exceeding member expectations.
Instead of waiting for problems to occur, implement preventive services that can eliminate problems before they happen. By creating a path for customer inquiry resolution, you and your team can ensure member loyalty and trust, which ultimately results in member retention. There are two options for the member retention-focused customer resolution:
- Option One: Utilizing Existing Customer Service Department
- Enable existing customer service department to solve customer issues
- Become the customer’s trusted advisor and build customer loyalty
- Reduce customer complaints and create solutions to common customer problems
- Online communication – “click to chat”
- Option Two: Designated Member Experience Department
- Assign each member a single point of contact
- Execute on key member communication
- Drive attendance to member meetings
- Second-tier customer resolution
- Monthly complaints review
- Denied claims outreach, if applicable
- Welcome home call after discharge from hospital or nursing home
- Help navigate inquiries about provider access
This Annual Election Period (AEP), don’t just think about how to get new membership, think about how you will build that loyalty and trust for years to come.
For more information, please contact Carrie Barker-Settles at cbarkersettles@ghgadvisors.com.
Resources
Gorman Health Group’s member experience assessment is designed to meet a health plan’s concerns for retention and service to the member while remaining compliant and also providing strategies to enhance cultural competence, presenting opportunities for the health plan and providers to efficiently deliver healthcare services that meet the social, cultural, and linguistic needs of members. Visit our website to learn more >>
New Webinar: During this webinar on November 9 at 1:30 pm ET, Regan Pennypacker, GHG’s Senior Vice President of Compliance Solutions, and Cynthia Pawley-Martin, our Senior Clinical Consultant, join Melissa Smith and Jordan Luke, the Director of Program Alignment and Partner Engagement Group at the CMS Office of Minority Health, to provide perspectives on how to implement CMS-recommended best practices in the real world within a health plan in support of Quality Improvement and Star Ratings activities as we continue focusing on providing person-centered, holistic care coordination to our members. Register now >>
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