Payers have access to more data about their members than retailers do, yet by comparison retailers are able to deliver a more personalized consumer experience. How can health plans deliver a consumer-centric experience? The key challenge is that the majority of payers don’t leverage their data to have meaningful conversations with their members.
Here are three best practices to lead the way in consumer centricity:
1. Segmentation
Many health plans treat members with the same condition and disease the same way. However, each member is unique. They are different ages, genders and have different lifestyles. If payers can segment their data, grouping members into categories of similarly situated individuals, then they can provide members with information that is relevant to them as an individual, not just as it relates to their conditions. Payers need to look at psycho-demographic info, lifestyle and consumer data to draw intelligence.
2. Create Personas
A persona is defined as the image or personality that represents a group of similarly situated members, helping health plans make sense of their unique characteristics and needs. After segmenting their data, health plans can create personas for its different kinds of members. They can base this on self-reported data as well as claims-related data. These personas can help health plans tailor information to members.
3. Personalize Communication
Payers typically send out generic reminders and mailers to their members. However, it has been proven that personalized communication increases member engagement and responses. Payers that focus personalization will most likely see a strong return on their investment.
Optum has created a white paper providing some detailed examples of segmentation and personalization. To read more, please click here.
The author credits the material in this article to whitepapers from Optum. To download the detailed whitepaper please visit DistilNFO’s partner knowledge center DOWNLOAD NOW
Source: DistilNFODate: November 24, 2015