It seems that nearly every day, I read or see a story that ties back to the customer experience. You hear these stories everywhere: airlines, restaurants, online retailers. The story is almost always less than glowing when it involves an insurance company of any kind. But something interesting happens when the story is about healthcare. The story, so often has a common through line and conclusion.
The through line: the member is seeking help about something that is stressful, confusing, and about something they feel they have little control over.
The conclusion: while members want to turn to their health plan as an expert partner to help solve the problem by navigating the complexity and creating a clear path, this never seems to be the case. Expectations of service in healthcare are outrageously low. How often have you heard things like “How could I possibly have known that from the information I have”?
What if, members left your contact center feeling like their answer was clear and complete? Even better, what if your contact center could anticipate next questions and educate to empower your members? The contact center is at the heart of the member experience, and the agents who work there are the key to success.
The healthcare industry is overdue for the “Agent Creates Simplicity for the member” mentality. Payers need to move quickly to get there because the low expectations our members have go hand in hand with dissatisfaction, a desire to take healthcare dollars elsewhere, and costly operational issues. Moreover, the world around us is changing rapidly, and expectations continue to rise. The health care industry needs to focus on advocating for members and linking members to the services they need. Payers should be moving from the role of collectors of data, to an organization that can harness the power of that data to benefit members.
A true concierge service approach serves each member’s unique needs with ease.
So how do you get there?
Join my conversation about Consumer Advocacy to Enhance Member Service and Health Plan Strategy at the World Congress 9th Annual Health Plan Consumer Experience & Retention Summit in Boston on September 18th at 4:30 PM. We will talk all about how to do this and more!
If you are unable to attend the conference, like us on Facebook where we plan to bring the conference to you via Facebook live! Also stay tuned to this blog and I will post a follow up about how get started on this journey to transforming the member experience after the conference!
Looking forward to seeing you there or online.