White paper: Supporting employees with a simpler health care experience
Personalization, transparency and choice play an important part in delivering the kind of health care experience employees have come to expect as consumers.
Today’s health care consumers are actively seeking more engaged, transparent, and personalized healthcare experiences.1 It’s not surprising: It makes sense that they’d expect the same kind of tailored, transparent and dynamic interactions they get from other services, like online shopping, booking travel or streaming.1
In fact, 64% of consumers said they prefer to purchase from companies that tailor experiences to their wants and needs and rank “poor service” as the No. 1 reason behind negative interactions.2
All in all, 80% indicated the experience a company provides to be as important as its products and services, according to a survey of consumers and business buyers.3 Plus, with fewer than 2 in 5 surveyed consumers feeling satisfied with their health care experience, it’s clear that the industry still has work to do in delivering an experience that lives up to what consumers are accustomed to in other aspects of their lives.4
And a poor health care experience may have repercussions on employers. A recent survey found that member experience is a critical factor for employers when considering their health plan strategy, with 20% saying they switched plans due to low satisfaction among employees.5 That can have broad consequences, since switching plans or carriers may frustrating for employees, too.
Employers who want to attract and retain top talent should look to work with a carrier that offers employees and their families a simpler, more personalized and connected health care experience — one that includes:
- An intuitive digital experience that makes health care easier to navigate
- Personalized support that meets members where they are on their health care journey
- Solutions that empower members with greater cost clarity and financial support
- Strategies designed to improve utilization and boost plan engagement
Member experience placemat
UnitedHealthcare is focused on delivering solutions and support designed to help make care simpler and more personalized — like the kind of experiences members have with many of the services they use every day.
An intuitive digital experience that makes health care easier to navigate
While health care experiences were traditionally defined by a member’s interaction with a provider in their brick-and-mortar office, so much of health care is now experienced virtually or via digital solutions that mimic the experience consumers have come to expect from their interactions with other service interactions.
Ideally, through a single app that mirrors the website experience, consumers can comparison shop, receive personalized suggestions, track the status of orders and more. This kind of integrated experience offers consumers a single access point to everything they may need — and even what they may not know they need.
4 out of 5
consumers surveyed said they want a digital platform to manage both their care and benefits6
“Consumer expectations have changed, and health care needs to continue to meet members where they are. The fact is that, for many of the services they use each day, people are opting for digital experiences and expecting personalization from those experiences,” says Samantha Baker, chief growth officer for UnitedHealthcare Employer & Individual.
A strong digital health care experience brings all the disparate pieces of health care together and offers members a single front door — via 1 app or website — to the resources they may need to navigate the system and manage their benefits. When these experiences are well-designed, they can lead to higher engagement and better-quality outcomes for members, as well as administrative cost savings for employers.7
And with more Millennials and Generation Z in the workforce,8 it’s important that employers consider a health benefits approach that is attractive to younger generations but that also works for older employees in their workforce.
With Millennials making up 42% of today’s workforce and Generation Z beginning to enter the workforce,7 employers need a health benefits strategy that works for them, as well as other generations within their workforce.
Although younger generations tend to be digitally savvy, data shows that they still may not always make the most informed health care decisions:9
- Millennials have the highest emergency room (ER) utilization, which may mean they weren’t aware that lower-cost, more appropriate sites of care were available
- Almost 1 in 10 Millennial men have not had a medical or pharmacy claim over the course of 2 years, which may mean they weren’t getting recommended preventive care or screenings
That’s where the application of data and analysis can make a difference: When a member’s digital experience includes personalized prompts that encourage “next-best actions” or connects them to relevant solutions or resources, members may be more likely to make a follow-up appointment, enroll in a health and well-being program or choose a more appropriate or convenient site of care.
These digital tools and experiences should simplify the search for care. For example, when a member looks for a provider, they want recommendations that consider their personal preferences while ensuring quality care at the lowest-possible out-of-pocket costs.
“When consumers go out to shop for a car, they typically do more evidence-based research and price comparisons than they do when finding a doctor,” says Dr. Gerald Hautman, chief medical officer for UnitedHealthcare National Accounts.
A true end-to-end digital experience includes the ability for members to view and manage all aspects of their health plan right from the palm of their hand, including viewing explanations of benefits (EOBs), paying claims and even shopping for additional benefits.
Personalized support that meets members where they are on their health care journey
A simpler digital experience is critical to providing a better member experience overall, but some health situations may require more hands-on support, especially as the health care system is complex and sometimes challenging to navigate.
A recent survey found that many consumers struggled to some degree to understand their benefits or find care.10 Struggles like these may cause employees to either delay care or choose care that may not be appropriate for their conditions. Those challenges may be amplified when employees are dealing with a complex or vulnerable health situation for either themselves or a covered dependent. That’s when human interaction may be key.
#1 reason
for a poor consumer experience is tied to issues with service2
Carrier advocacy programs may help simplify the health care experience for employees by offering 1-on-1 support in navigating their benefits. This can be helpful when an employee has questions about their benefits, but especially during times of vulnerability — such as when facing an illness or injury.
AI-supported technology can also help advance the level of personalization delivered by advocacy programs by boosting accuracy and efficiency to provide real-time data-driven assistance during calls.
Take, for instance, the case of an employee who has recently visited an ER for a heart issue. After being alerted by the nature of the claim, an advocate would call to check on the individual, while offering recommendations for next steps. They can also help schedule a follow-up appointment with a cardiologist or a consultation with a behavioral health care provider.
Up to 2-4%
in medical total cost of care savings for employers with UnitedHealthcare Enhanced Advocacy solutions11
This outreach not only helps streamline the employee’s experience during a health challenge, but it may also help them find appropriate, ongoing care for their situation and potentially avoid another costly trip to the ER.12
Employers may see that these efforts, when coordinated by trained and compassionate experts, may yield lower costs, better health outcomes and more satisfied members.
“By personalizing the care people receive and demonstrating compassion as they navigate the health care system, employees know that their employers and their health care partners are looking out for them,” says Rebecca Madsen, chief executive officer of Advocacy Solutions for UnitedHealthcare Employer & Individual.
When employees are unable to find the support they need and it starts to create noise for employers, that’s where a carrier’s account or client management team can step in to help escalate issues if necessary, identify opportunities to send targeted member communications, host benefits education meetings or even provide access to a dedicated representative who is available on-site to assist with service issues specific to that employer’s population.
Solutions that empower members with greater cost clarity and financial support
Health care costs continue to be of concern, creating tight and sometimes even unsustainable financial situations for employers and employees.
Nearly 75% of surveyed adults said they are either “very” or “somewhat” worried about being able to afford unexpected medical bills or the cost of health care services for themselves and their families.13 Even more concerning, 40% of surveyed employees indicated that they’ve skipped or postponed necessary health care or medications due to cost.13
≈75%
of surveyed adults said they are either “very” or “somewhat” worried about being able to afford unexpected medical bills or the cost of health care services13
“What we’re hearing from employers is that they are concerned their employees are avoiding care not only because health care is expensive but also because everything in their lives has become expensive,” Hautman says.
Helping members find and choose quality care options that may be more affordable is critical — but empowering them to make more informed decisions requires giving them access to that information and making it easier for them to understand.
“That’s where carriers and health plan designs that provide upfront price information can make a difference,” says Baker. “When members are able to check and compare costs prior to making an appointment, they may make choices that lead to reduced costs for themselves, their families and also potentially their employer.”
Employers may also opt to provide employees with the financial support and tools designed to help make care more affordable. For instance, preloaded debit cards or savings accounts that can be used toward qualified medical expenses — such as a health savings account (HSA), flexible spending account (FSA) or health reimbursement account (HRA) — can all help to make out-of-pocket expenses a little less daunting.
But unexpected bills related to out-of-network care, illnesses, accidents, hospitalizations or long-term work absences or leaves can be more challenging for employees to budget and save for, which can lead to significant financial stress. In fact, surveyed U.S. employees admitted to spending upwards of 4 hours a week managing their personal finances during work hours,14 so it’s no surprise that nearly 60% of surveyed employers indicated they are concerned that financial stress is affecting their workplace.15
That’s why it may be important for employers to consider programs that proactively pay out eligible claims before a claim is even filed, as well as out-of-network bill resolution management programs that assist members in dealing with unplanned expenses.
Strategies designed to improve utilization and boost plan engagement
Because offering quality benefits to employees often comes at a significant cost to employers,16 it can be frustrating if employees are not utilizing those benefits. On top of that, employees may not realize the overall value of the benefits offered to them if they are not aware of or engaging with those benefits. That’s an important consideration because employees who use and have positive experiences with their benefits are 2.4 times more likely to feel that their whole-person health needs are being met.17
Taking steps to educate employees about their benefits may go a long way towards getting them to use those benefits. With the right mix of communication campaigns, guidance and data-driven insights, employers can not only boost utilization but also build a healthier and happier workforce.18
52%
of surveyed employees think their benefit information is inadequate19
That said, with 52% of employees surveyed stating that their current benefits information is not adequate, and 89% preferring information tailored to their age, gender and location,19 employers should look to develop communications that are targeted in order to be effective.
Employers can help boost that engagement by leveraging turnkey employee communications that their carrier may make available, as well as supplementing those with their own communications and benefits education efforts throughout the year.
Other best practices include varying communications based on how employers like to receive content, listening to employee feedback to identify information gaps and aligning messaging to current events or seasonal activities.
Another tactic is to work with a carrier that has robust reporting capabilities, because they may be able to use claims data and patterns to better understand employee needs and inform engagement strategies, such as driving awareness of support for certain conditions, improving preventive care adherence, increasing utilization of certain benefits or educating employees about the benefits of using less costly sites of care.
Incentive-based programs can also help, because they can encourage employees and their family members to use their available benefits, take part in preventive care activities and live healthier lifestyles.
Getting employees to engage with their benefits has proven advantages. When employees engage with their health plans, it’s been shown that improved employee satisfaction, a healthier workforce and reduced costs may follow.18
In fact, UnitedHealthcare’s Health Activation Index (HAI)® shows that every 1-point improvement in member engagement with their plan equals a 1.01% reduction in health care costs.20
Share
