Health IT Answers: Leveraging Technology for More Impactful Member Engagement

With the help of technology, health plans now have a plethora of ways to interact with their members outside of the traditional in-person doctors’ visits – whether it’s through text messages, apps, e-mail, or web-based platforms. Unfortunately, as the myriad of communication channels expand, the valuable impact of health plans’ interactions with members has become diluted.

Defining Engagement

Many health plans today define “engagement” as a simple interaction, like a member responding to a text message or acknowledging their appointment in a healthcare portal. But this narrow definition risks “losing the forest for the trees.”

An engaged member isn’t someone who occasionally interacts with their health plan in superficial ways. Instead, engagement reflects active participation in managing one’s healthcare—both online and in-person. Truly engaged members understand their benefits, utilize preventive care, and truly trust their providers and health plans….