In this exclusive interview, two speakers at RISE’s upcoming Member Engagement and Experience Symposium preview their session on how to develop an organization-wide approach to member engagement and avoid obstacles that can derail efforts.
Atrio Health Plans have an extremely low member turnover rate. Indeed, less than six percent of its enrolled members leave the organization’s plans each year, according to Atrio’s Chief Medical Officer Darren E. Wethers, M.D., CPE, FACP.
The reason? In large part because they ask members what they want, they listen to them, and then they act on it.
“Nothing beats communication,” Dr. Wethers told RISE during a recent interview. “You can have all the apps that you want. You can have all the portals that you want, but you have to communicate with people when and how they want. So, you have to ask, ‘Would you like for us to text you when something’s due? Can we send you an email? Can we call you?’ Explicitly ask. I think that’s important.”
Tina Dueringer, R.N., BSN, CCM, PCC, vice president clinical and quality, Rebellis Group, LLC, agrees, noting it’s important not to overlook the basics of communication. “Start with what the member engagement journey looks like,” she says. “Who did they talk to? Where are those touch points? Is this a place that we have a potential to lose a member? And what can we do to continue the relationship?”
Dueringer and Dr. Wethers will take part in a panel discussion on an organization-wide approach to member engagement on the first day of The Member Engagement and Experience Symposium, which will take place August 5-6, in Orlando, Fla.
One strategy to avoid is to think of member engagement as a one-time effort, Dueringer says. “It’s year-round…I think people can forget about the member because as a plan they get wrapped up in all the nuances of all the things they have to do for Stars and all the other pieces.”
Plans must remember that they are there to make medical decisions and offer support for members. “The clinical part often gets lost along the way,” Dueringer says. “But none of the other pieces will even matter because without the member, you don’t have a plan.”
One strategy that Dr. Wethers’ endorses is establishing a member council, which his previous health plan created in both the Phoenix and Tucson, Ariz. markets. “Those two communities are so different it was important to have them separate from one another rather than try and have one overarching member council. We selected a variety of people, those who had been in the professional world, those from the blue-collar world, and those who maybe had never worked but they were all Medicare beneficiaries.”
The plan had the council members test the member portal and provide comments and feedback on new programs before they rolled them out.
“It wasn’t a symbolic council, it was very much a participatory one, and one that I felt really helped us to focus our efforts on what was important to the members,” he says. “We would also spotlight them within our member newsletter, and I think there is nothing better for consumers than to see people representative of themselves. It becomes aspirational and people think they want to become more active with the plan and ask, ‘how can I be involved? So, it helps bring people to us rather than us always going to them.’”
One benefit that Atrio Medicare Advantage members particularly like is their flex card, Dr. Wethers says. They can earn credit toward their flex card if they complete certain health-related activities, such as going to see their primary care physicians for their annual wellness visits or if women complete their mammogram. Members can use the flex card like a credit card toward most health-related goods.
“I was in Medford, Ore. visiting one of our service centers and while waiting for the rental car to come forward, a gentleman and I struck up a conversation and he mentioned that he was a member of Atrio health plan, and when he found I worked there, he was just so excited that it was toward the end of the plan year, and he had already used up all his benefits on his flex card, and he couldn’t wait for the new plan year to start so that he’d have access to that again,” Dr. Wethers recalls. ”I think as a result of those sorts of things, we have a very low turnover.”
Dueringer and Dr. Wethers will offer more strategies about organization-wide member engagement at their 9:50 a.m., Monday, August 5 session at The Member Engagement and Experience Symposium. The two-day event will take place at the Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista at Disney Springs. Click here for more information, including the complete agenda, roster of speakers, and how to register.