Effective member engagement educates your members and motivates them to take ownership of their health. If you want to strengthen your member engagement, here’s a list of five tactics to connect with your members and encourage them to get more engaged.
Encourage members to schedule a preventive screening by creating a relevant outreach campaign. Start by choosing a few to focus on, like breast cancer screenings and colorectal cancer screenings. Then reference the health awareness calendar to make sure your outreach is well timed: October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month.
Once you’ve chosen which screenings to promote, build an outreach campaign to educate members and bring them into a care center for an appointment.
Another effective strategy for increasing member engagement is to choose a target audience with whom you can make a large, immediate impact. Examine your claims database and patient registries to identify high-risk populations who need immediate attention. Patient registries contain data that can help you identify care gaps, prioritize patients who need better health engagement, and reach out to them with a personalized message that addresses their potential access barriers and encourages them to engage.
If you want members to schedule an annual physical or wellness visit, lower the barrier to entry by giving them the option to complete part of their visit remotely. Some members may feel apprehensive about visiting their health provider, especially for a first-time appointment. During COVID-19, it’s especially important to offer virtual appointments to people who have concerns about visiting a care center in person.
Let your members know that they can talk to their provider from the comfort of their home about whatever health questions they have: diet, exercise, sleep, stress, and more. This also gives providers the opportunity to help members know what to expect during the in-person visit.
Once members have completed the remote part of the visit and had a chance to connect with their provider, they’ll be more likely to feel comfortable coming into a care center to complete any tests that need to happen in person.
Your members can’t fully engage with the health services you provide if they don’t know what’s available to them. For example, if you offer expanded support beyond medical services, make sure members are aware of it.
Services like behavioral health support and health coaching — especially remotely — give your members more reasons to engage. So make sure these options are highly visible and easy to access, and never assume that members already know about them.
No matter which of these engagement tactics you choose to try first, here’s one thing to keep in mind. Every time you engage with a member, focus on one specific thing you want them to do, and shape your message around that specific goal.
Remember that members who aren’t currently engaged will stay unengaged unless you give them a specific action to take. Instead, ask yourself: what information does the member need to take action? What is the most straightforward way to persuade them that taking action is worth it? Don’t overcomplicate your message or throw in too many options at once — this can confuse your audience.
Whether you’re asking members to schedule a breast cancer screening or a remote wellness visit, make sure your communication lets them know exactly what they should do and how to do it. It’s the best way to deliver your message and engage your members.
Strong member engagement is only one aspect of effective primary care. To learn how to deliver advanced primary care, download our eBook Advanced Primary Care: The Front Line Of A Health Revolution.