Improving Member Experience With Integrated Healthcare

Integrated healthcare is an approach that can greatly benefits insurers. It’s characterized by a high degree of collaboration and communication among health professionals.

When combined with a robust primary care offering, it enables any required specialists to perform at the highest level due to the in-depth collaboration and communication with a member’s primary care team.

For members, integrated healthcare empowers them to be proactive about their health. With providers who take the time to listen and understand their concerns, and with easier access to care, members are more likely to seek routine care, rather than resort to emergency measures.

By improving member experience and patient outcomes, integrated healthcare benefits insurers because it contains costs and builds loyalty.

Read Now: Value-Based Care: What It Is, Why It's Important, And The Best Way To Deliver It

Creating an integrated healthcare experience

Integrated care starts with the care team. This care team operates on a holistic level, and is committed to identifying problems early on and treating them at the source, before conditions worsen.

Because it is a truly holistic approach to primary care, behavioral health and coaching services are also included. They are considered a critical piece in overall member health rather than an add-on service.

A partnership with someone like Vera, who practices integrated healthcare, improves access for payers and insurers. For locations where members have experienced long waits to be seen, adding primary care helps to attract and retain members. Partnering with Vera helps payers create a member experience with higher satisfaction ratings, which helps them to grow their market share.

Benefits of an integrated health plan

Adopting an integrated health plan translates into better member care, improved health outcomes, and lowered costs. Let’s take a closer look at some of the more specific benefits:

• Coordinated specialist referrals: Members will visit their primary care provider more often. As a result, the provider and the care team can coordinate any specialty care visits, ensuring that they only happen when needed.
• Unqualified primary care prospects won't be sent to specialists: The focus of an integrated healthcare approach is to address concerns at the source, before they escalate, reducing costly referrals.
• Reduced and contained costs: Catastrophic claims go down when members seek routine, integrated care.
• Improved efficiency: This integrated model of value-based care translates into more efficient care, by identifying problems early on and treating them in a single care center.

Integrated healthcare lays the foundation for what member experience can and should be. With a dedicated care team that operates on a truly holistic level, a reduced need for specialist referrals, and contained costs made possible by regular routine care, insurers must adopt an integrated healthcare model going forward.

Value-based is the only sustainable way forward for payers, and those that move first will gain an advantage. Learn more by checking out our in-depth guide, Value-Based Care: What It Is, Why It's Important, And The Best Way To Deliver It.