Digital transformation has become mainstream, and healthcare industry trends, including increased costs, member demands for customized services, and the need for efficient workflows, have prompted health plans to capitalize on this movement. Yet digital adoption is not a universal approach since health plans must consider members’ unique needs and their familiarity with these technologies.
So how can you streamline digital adoption and educate both staff and members about the value of digital healthcare tools?
With so many applications and software on the market, selecting the one that fits your needs can be challenging. Since digital engagement should benefit the entire industry, factoring patients and staff into the decision is paramount. So how can you choose the right tool to facilitate your adoption strategy?
While members want to engage with their health plans and manage their care, they don’t want to be given too many digital tool options. Instead, you should adopt one comprehensive app that provides members access to their personal information, relevant healthcare resources, and plan details. This tool should also automate staff workflows and enhance internal data collection so you can deliver personalized experiences and maintain an ongoing relationship with your members.
Positioning digital tools to members and staff remains complicated due to an organization’s competing needs. Some health plans market their tools solely based on member demands without considering their business objectives. Developing a careful adoption strategy that can scale with the business allows you to align patient needs with organizational goals.
Executing this strategy requires educating staff about your organization’s purpose for digital engagement. As Wellframe’s Senior Customer Partner Michele Gabron observes, “We tend to see really positive member engagement when we have staff that has been really culturally impacted from a top-down approach.” When employees understand the company-wide benefits of digital engagement, they’re more likely to communicate the value proposition throughout the healthcare industry.
Digital transformation is an ongoing process that involves consistently refining your strategies and objectives and improving member support. So it’s critical to develop KPIs that can assess the value and effectiveness of your digital tools. This should begin immediately following the initial adoption phase. As Jessie Schiller, Senior Director of Digital Adoption at Wellframe, emphasizes, “I think the first thing is really thinking about…that [adoption] piece of it, lining that up with the goals, and then developing a process for accountability…making sure that you’re able to see progress, see where there’s gaps, and bring together best practices.”
Once you’ve acclimated to the implementation, you can set benchmarks and develop metrics to evaluate periodically. These measurements should demonstrate engagement, adoption, and retention rates so you can scale and meet monthly goals.
The key to successful digitization is to collect and analyze data points that give you actionable insights and allow you to refine your processes to meet member and industry demands.
