How Personalized Messaging Leads to Effective Member Engagement

August 30, 2021 - Digital health management platforms have proved to be highly effective tools in the hands of members, enabling the latter to take ownership over their health. However, health plans must first encourage members to make use of these tools and the multitude of services they offer.

“It’s one thing for health plans to make this big investment in digital health management and another to get members to use it,” says Wellframe Member Marketing Manager Erin Clark.

“Health plans are targeting cost savings, staff optimization, and improved member satisfaction as their goals for their digital health management platforms, but first and foremost, they are asking members to engage with their health, and many people aren’t ready to do that,” she adds.

To avoid putting the cart before the horse, health plans must think carefully about their approach to messaging their members about the benefits of their digital health management platform, beginning with making members aware.

“Many members don’t even know that they have this amazing resource at their health plan that can support them with a new diagnosis or a discharge from a hospital,” Clark observes.

So how do health plans drive awareness? Simply put, they must meet members where they are.

“The key is to be everywhere they are. We always recommend an omnichannel approach, and within that approach, there should be different levels you’re trying to hit,” Clark notes.

“We try to create holistic marketing campaigns that do those three things: build awareness, make the case for digital, and ultimately get members to download,” she continues. “That means being in their inboxes in their email. We see text messaging to be a great channel. It means being in their direct mail; their snail mailboxes, and it also means being in the community.”

Building awareness could be as simple as making flyers available in the doctor’s office or hanging posters in office breakrooms and common areas. Doing so ensures that the health plans are present where their members are, a critical component to highlighting the benefits of digital health management.

Personalization and timing are two other crucial factors.

“It’s essential that plans don’t just send one email and expect everyone to sign up because all the evidence shows us that doesn’t work,” Clark explains. “There has to be personalization on the platform because members will not join if they receive content that isn’t pertinent to their individual situation. The experience has to be personalized to the member.”

Major life events and health events represent important opportunities for engagement. A hospital discharge requires unique personalization to help the member transition to another care setting or the home and avoid a costly hospital readmission. Members who become pregnant have different needs and expectations than those recently receiving a diabetes diagnosis.

“All those messages are going to look totally different because they care about different things. And that’s what the essential part is for health plans — to narrow in on what is the most important to their members and ensure messaging is tailored appropriately,” says Clark.

The cadence of messaging can also prove impactful.

“Many health plans are nervous about reaching out to the members too frequently, but we actually see the opposite to be the case,” Clark reveals. “An email message in January may meet with little interest for some members. But another message six months later could align with a major change in a member’s health status. Frequency of touch is key.”

According to Clark, there are numerous ways health plans are able to gain an understanding of their member population, such as the development of specific personas to target subsets of members or the use of surveys to identify member wants, needs, and expectations.

Once health plans have properly engaged with members and onboarded the latter onto the digital health management platform, they can then determine methods for motivating members to play a greater role in their health.

Again, no one-size-fits-all approach works because each member is unique. Some are go-getters, while others require more time and encouragement. “The biggest thing is really specifying what’s in it for the member,” Clark maintains.

What members ultimately get out of the digital health management platform is the byproduct of these motivations. When health plans take the time to personalize their messaging based on the unique circumstances facing individuals and groups, only then can they set expectations for utilization of the platform.

Health plans must learn to walk before they can sprint. Bite-size performance metrics that foster member utilization clears the path toward more ambitious goals. “That’s the hard part for many plans but a truly essential one to ultimately get the results that health plans are looking for when they make this investment in digital health management,” Clark concludes.

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Wellframe partners with health plans nationwide to reimagine member relationships. With solutions for care management and advocacy, the Wellframe Digital Health Management platform empowers health plans to become a trusted advocate for all their members' health needs. Learn more at wellframe.com.

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