Improving Member Communications: Trust, Empathy and Innovation Pave the Way to Better Stars

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Posted By: Healthcare NOW Radio Host October 5, 2023

A Conversation with Dan McDonald, CEO at 86Borders

X: @86Borders
LinkedIn: Dan McDonald

Dan McDonald has garnered over two decades of healthcare and insurance leadership experience as the CEO at 86Borders and formerly SVP at GenAmerica/MetLife. Dan firmly recognizes the significance of building trusted relationships across all healthcare stakeholders, including health plan members. In 2014, he co-founded 86Borders, where he’s harnessed his expertise to develop proven member outreach solutions for health plans the company serves.

Tune in to hear how McDonald and his team at 86Borders use a personalized, member-first approach. Their efforts drive stronger member engagement, deliver higher levels of member satisfaction, and result in better care outcomes.

Listen to the Conversation

Episode Takeaways

  • Low member satisfaction has a significant financial impact on health plans. Unhappy members negatively impact Star ratings and fewer Stars lead to lost bonuses, fewer rebates, and less time for heath plans to conduct marketing efforts.
  • Health plans often struggle with member satisfaction because they approach engagement as mass outreach rather than focusing on personalized member relationships.
  • Data plays a crucial role in finding hard-to-reach members and data from various sources is needed to create an optimal member profile.
  • The hardest-to-reach populations often include vulnerable groups like Medicaid and DSNP members. These individuals may have limited education about their benefits, requiring a more personalized and compassionate approach.
  • To ensure member satisfaction, health plans should communicate with members in their preferred language, recognize their urgent needs, use flexible communication timings, employ multiple outreach methods, and be prepared to provide solutions immediately when contact is established.

Hosts

Beth Friedman

Senior Partner, Health Information Lead
LinkedIn: Beth Friedman
Twitter: @HealthITPR

FINN Voices amplifies the power of health innovation to improve people’s lives. Hosted by health experts from FINN Partners, each episode offers a peek behind the curtain of innovation with healthcare’s leading changemakers. We talk about their ideas and challenges along the way; continually shaping critical conversations and answering the most important questions in healthcare today. Follow the show’s hashtag #FINNvoices.

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