Personalizing Member Engagement in Times of Crisis

We all cannot wait to fast forward to 2021 in the hopes for a year of solutions. Just before we take the leap, we are always prompted to look back, at least on how far we’ve come, and it’s especially true this year.

Quick rewind to May 2020; spring flowers were in full bloom yet COVID-19 was way ahead of the curve, obliging hundreds of millions of people to stay indoors. It was during those days that a prominent health plan approached Medorion with a request to help them effectively communicate with their members about the dangers of the pandemic, ways to stay safe and who to contact in case of emergency.

The problem? The health plan found it particularly challenging to communicate effectively with their members about the health risks of the pandemic to vulnerable populations, and to clearly instruct them on what to do and how to protect themselves.

Besides the fact that it was chaotic, it was more than just taking control of the situation. Communication was everywhere; it was unreliable and changing. The health plan’s main goal was to demonstrate that despite the instability, the one constant was their reliability even in unprecedented times, with the aim of delivering clarity and reducing member anxiety.

The health plan rolled out extended services such as Telehealth, a 24-hour nurse hotline, PCP (Primary Care Physician) and General Symptoms, all supported by relevant content, guidance and live support. Alongside the digital support, the health plan offered subscriptions to SilverSneakers, a member-based fitness program with online classes. They had to motivate members off the worry chair, and get them engaged - literally.

Medorion answered the call and provided the health plan with a solution. Using the plan’s database, Medorion studied the psychological barriers among specific member populations and created intelligent digital engagement strategies based on its previous, successful campaign for medicine adherence and acquisition.

Delivering a callto action was paramount: the system was up and running within 14 days and the campaign launched.

Traffic to the COVID Emergency landing page resulted in tens of thousands of unique visits and more than 2 million impressions and a resulting significant increase in update across all targeted measures in under 60 days.

Applying unique communication to members according to specific chronic conditions resulted in the highest engagement rates during the COVID-19 outbreak. Knowing that virtual PCP support was available generated significant traffic among members, and while at home, maintaining physical health became a priority for thousands. Furthermore, while prescription delivery was available for a limited time, reports indicated a record- breaking spike in engagement rate.

In today’s digital environment, social distancing is no excuse for mediocre communication; because of and thanks to the new rules imposed by the pandemic, health plan marketers do not need to hold their breath when launching a campaign and members have learned the ease of access and connectivity when needed most.

The result of the health plan’s COVID-19 campaign were enough to lay the groundwork for additional campaigns fueled by Medorion’s Behavioral AI platform, including a transition into the Gaps in Care POC with on-demand content creation, analytics and reporting.