5 Best Strategies for Commercial Payers to Increase Customer Engagement: More price transparency, patient outreach, and improved communication channels are all components of effective consumer involvement.
In order to maintain a devoted client base over upcoming open enrollment cycles, commercial healthcare payers may need to address the crucial issue of consumer engagement. According to a business press release, several health insurance firms have made an effort to address consumer interaction. One example is the Pittsburgh-based UPMC Health Plan, which recently opened a store where representatives will answer concerns about coverage and assist members in enrolling.
The UPMC Mobile Health Team’s health tests and other services are one way this new store will increase customer involvement for medical billing services California. Along with providing members with flu shots, the health plan will cover blood pressure, cholesterol, glucose, and bone density examinations.
Also, through collaborating with providers of imaging services, cancer therapy, cardiovascular disease treatment, and other services, the payer hopes to enhance patient health outcomes and consumer engagement through increased patient education.
The education, midlife, and imaging centres of UPMC Magee-Hospital, Women’s the UPMC CancerCenter, the UPMC Center for Participation and Inclusion, UPMC Sports Medicine, and the UPMC Heart and Vascular Institute will all be there to share information. Moreover, UPMC Health Plan health coaches will be on hand to offer wellness guidance and pointers, according to the press release.
Establishing more effective routes of communication
Customers will be able to chat with representatives at the Monroeville Mall store if they have any queries about the public health insurance marketplaces or their individual plan. In addition, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and queries on Medicare and Medicaid coverage will be addressed.
Marybeth Jenkins, Chief Operating Officer of UPMC Health Plan, said, “We are thrilled to invest in the community and offer a more convenient, comfortable, and comprehensive experience at this new site.
By providing more ways for customers to contact them and enhancing communication channels, healthcare payers could likewise increase consumer involvement. Increasing price transparency is a key strategy for boosting customer engagement and developing a more patient-centered environment.
Pricing transparency
According to a PwC analysis, hospitals, for instance, might imitate the retail sector’s price transparency practices. Health plans that collaborate with their provider networks to increase price transparency may be able to attract and keep more customers in the long run.
Health plan participants might select the most economical options if they were provided with tools that displayed the cost of various treatments provided by their provider network. Pricing transparency would result in lower medical expenses and higher patient satisfaction.
Outreach to patients
Further outreach initiatives, the usage of patient portals, and clear, user-friendly medical billing systems are a few other strategies for enhancing patient retention and consumer engagement. Sending letters to patients to remind them to get screenings, childhood vaccinations, yearly check-ups, and flu vaccines is one way to engage them through outreach.
Payers could also develop a mobile health team by cooperating with their provider network and the businesses they have contracts with. Mobile teams could provide a more convenient way to check in with patients at their place of employment and transport medical supplies in a van to specific areas.
Setting up member portals
Payers may also set up member portals through which members could receive reminders straight to their inboxes and receive more rapid, efficient responses to their questions concerning coverage. According to a Care Cloud survey, 73 percent of respondents said that access to electronic health records, such as through patient portals, would increase their level of satisfaction overall. There is no doubt that health plan member’s want access to patient portals.
Making sure that profile information is transmitted throughout departments is all that is necessary from the perspective of contextual awareness, with customer service being one of the primary channels.
Payers will need to incorporate effective technological solutions when it comes to communicating with customers and answering questions through member portals.
Patient billing that is simple to use
Once more, patient retention can benefit from price transparency through patient billing systems. Payers should priorities transparent, user-friendly billing systems that let patients control their out-of-pocket expenses in order to cut healthcare costs and boost satisfaction.
In conclusion, payers may increase consumer involvement by establishing member portals, transparent billing practices, mobile health teams that provide wellness services, increased price transparency, patient outreach, and better communication channels.
Conclusion
Corporate healthcare payers may have to address the critical issue of consumer engagement in order to keep a loyal customer base across prospective open enrollment cycles. Some health insurance companies have reportedly made an effort to address customer engagement, according to a business press release. As an illustration, the Pittsburgh-based UPMC Health Plan recently built a location where staff members will address queries regarding coverage and help members enrol.
One method this new store will increase customer interaction is through the health exams and other services provided by the UPMC Mobile Health Team. The insurance plan will pay for blood pressure, cholesterol, glucose, and bone density tests in addition to giving participants flu vaccines.
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