Background

A division of one of the largest health plans in the United States wanted to learn more about their Medicare members and their communication preferences. What they already knew was smartphone use amongst the senior community is on the rise - 81% of Americans 60-69 years old and 62% of Americans age 70+ own one. Furthermore, they knew that 95% of seniors age 65+ send text messages weekly.*

Challenge

The health plan was seeking a better understanding of their members’ interest in digital selfservice. They knew many Medicare members have smartphones and most send text messages. What they did not know was if their members would both send and respond to text messages to interact with their health plan. The plan wanted to explore the opportunity for members to digitally manage their enrollment information appointments to learn more about their plan options and available services. However, they did not have the resources or technology to conduct this research.

Solution

The plan chose to partner with Ushur, a leader in Customer Experience Automation™, to explore their members’ interest in digital interactions. In just 2 months, the health plan team designed and deployed a digital solution for open enrollment appointment scheduling, reminders and rescheduling. These features were delivered through the ease of text messaging and Ushur’s Invisible App™. Ushur’s no-code workflow designer and analytics enabled the health plan to test multiple approaches to compare and contrast members’ level of participation.

Results

Members responded well to digital self-service options. The health plan also realized a 40% improvement in appointment attendance when the members scheduled online versus over the phone. They discovered that appointment reminder timing matters – member engagement increased by almost 30% when the reminder was sent 24 hours in advance, compared with when sent on the day of the actual appointment. In addition, the plan learned that 35% of their Medicare members preferred to reschedule their appointment online and avoid a call to Member Services. Ushur’s platform provided the health plan with the added value of increased efficiency through fully integrating with the plan’s Customer Relationship Management System.

For more information on how Ushur is helping health plans, please go to ushur.com.