The U.S. healthcare market is in the midst of a transformation that is significantly altering the make-up and buying behavior of consumers, heightening the need for healthcare payers to have the capability to attract and keep members. This will mean doing everything possible in the coming years to stay ahead of rapid changes that are part of a shifting landscape. These changes include:
A new generation of plan members
Over 16 million new insurance customers are entering the U.S. health plan market because of the 2010 Affordable Care Act (ACA) healthcare reforms. 34 percent of all applicants are under the age of 35, and are looking for companies to communicate with them according to their preferences.1
The move away from business as usual
Driven by the need to reduce exposure to healthcare costs, many businesses are moving from Defined Benefit to Defined Contribution plans, shifting the responsibility for choosing healthcare coverage to the individual employee.
The drivers: federally facilitated and state exchanges
More than 11 million new and existing insurance buyers are purchasing coverage through the new online marketplaces (“exchanges”)1. These exchanges offer consumers unprecedented access to plan information and enrollment options.
In today’s customer-focused, cost-driven market environment, healthcare payers face a myriad of conflicting challenges. In order to remain competitive, payers must be diligent in taking a careful look at the way they communicate with all their stakeholders and implement a focused and strategic plan for every communication they send to members. The reality is with the level of change taking place due to healthcare reform in the U.S., insurance companies need to move quickly to a next-generation communications infrastructure to ensure that they can produce more effective, cost-efficient policyholder communications. Those insurers that can improve customer communications across all channels will be in a position to break away from the competition.
In our new whitepaper, “Healthcare Payers: engaging members in an evolving and competitive market”, GMC Software explores what to consider when putting a customer communications management (CCM) solution in place with the goal to produce improved operational efficiencies that enhance the customer experience and differentiate from the competition while reducing costs.
