Health plans are constantly looking for ways to engage members in managing their own health. Health plans benefit from member engagement by recognizing lower costs for their business and for the participating members. Enhancing member engagement through technology is an easy and accessible way to boost engagement without changing member behavior significantly. Below are 4 specific technologies that increase member engagement. Read on to learn more about the impact mobile apps, wearable technology, telehealth options and the Engage2Reward™ gift card ordering platform can have on your membership engagement efforts.
Mobile Apps
Mobile apps are on everyone’s most used pieces of technology- their phones. People from all walks of life have become accustomed to relying on mobile apps for a wide range of tasks, whether it's purchasing concert tickets, managing their finances, or even communicating with healthcare providers. Since healthcare providers are often heavily reliant on mobile apps for patient communication, it feels natural for consumers to also engage with health plans via mobile apps for simple tasks like filing or checking on a claim. Mobile apps can drive engagement by:
- Allowing members to take their health plan information everywhere they go
- Making it easy to access information, claim submission and their member card
- Streamlining health plan information in a familiar way
Increasing member engagement with mobile apps is relatively easy to do and in today’s mobile age, if you’re not meeting members on their phones you’re missing an opportunity to keep your business top of mind and accessible to members.
Wearable Technology
Everyone is interested in tracking their steps, workouts and calories burned, including healthcare providers. Members are expected to be able to explain to healthcare providers how often they exercise and with what intensity at annual preventative visits. For health plans, there is an opportunity to boost engagement with wearable technology. As a key stakeholder in member health, providing wearable devices drives engagement by:
- Motivating members to work out regularly
- Making the connection between the exercise, the device used to track it and your health plan
- Allows the health plan to plug directly into member habits to promote healthy living
As wearable technology increases in popularity and becomes more standard, offering the tech at low or no cost to members allows them to carry your health plan on their wrist or around their finger everywhere they go.
Telehealth Options
Some components of receiving medical care during the COVID-19 pandemic have gone away, but one piece that may have permanently transformed medicine and patient care are telehealth options. Offering telehealth benefits to members encourages proactive care-seeking behavior, enabling them to address health concerns before they escalate into emergencies. This proactive telehealth engagement with their health plan can have several advantages:
- Prevent costly emergency room visits
- Allow simple medical issues to be resolved, even if a patient isn’t home
- Builds trust between member and plan because telehealth often helps members in a non-optimal situation
Telehealth advantages for health plan members are an easy and low-cost way to drive engagement and establish trust directly with members by providing care when they need it that their care team may not otherwise be able to provide.
Engage2Reward™ Gift Card Ordering Platform
Everyone loves earning rewards. Whether you are saving up points to make a purchase with a favorite retailer or building healthy habits and behaviors to gain rewards from your health plan, rewards are motivating. Using the Engage2Reward™ gift card ordering platform for health plan providers offers an easy gift card ordering process and allows the health plan to:
- Drive continued engagement for difference segments of the member audience
- Motivate members to take desired actions from the health plan
- Provide valuable gifts to a diverse group of members
The Engage2Reward™ gift card ordering platform can be flexible enough to provide gift card rewards to fit any budget and makes the process of ordering and delivery easy with fully digital delivery options. Tying these rewards to their health plan creates a positive association and builds a relationship and rapport between members and the health plan.
Key Features of the Engage2Reward™ gift card ordering platform:
✓ Individual & bulk fulfillment
✓ Instant delivery
✓ Custom branding
✓ Personalize messages to each recipient
✓ Volume based discounts
✓ Digital & plastic gift card options
✓ Fast & easy ordering
✓ Two-factor security option
✓ Single sign-on integration
✓ Comprehensive reporting & analytics
✓ Fund account by ACH, wire or credit card
The Engage2Reward™ Choice Card allows members to redeem the value of their gift card to one of over 250 retailers in the platform, almost guaranteeing that they can find lasting value in the rewards they are earning.
Conclusion
Health plans haven’t always been known for engaging members in a meaningful way, but implementing technological solutions for member engagement can break that precedent. Motivate members with rewards, build rapport, provide care and more when relying on technology to engage your member base.
