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Leverage data to improve healthcare consumer engagement

Published: August 29, 2017 by Experian Health

shutterstock_522876508-blogToday’s healthcare consumers are at the center of healthcare transformation. They demand a personalized experience, use devices to monitor their health and are vocal when they are not satisfied with their service or care. Healthcare organizations are being challenged to think differently about healthcare engagement.

To succeed, you must become consumer-facing and expand your reach. You need to attract and retain patients for service line growth. Connecting with consumers by tailoring their journey is expected, so you using data to predict health conditions and message effectively is critical.

Do you know who your patients are? How to build a relationship with them? Can you improve their satisfaction and retention? Are you providing personalized communications? Superior data with actionable insights can help you remain competitive in this new healthcare landscape. This is a new approach to most healthcare organizations, but it provides an exciting opportunity.

Leverage data the right way and gain deeper insights to improve patient and consumer engagement.  To learn more, visit Experian Health’s Marketing Services page, contact your account representative or email us at experianhealth@experian.com

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In the decade since the Affordable Care Act sparked the transition toward value-based care and pay-for-performance care models, clinical services have been transformed by advances in diagnostics, medical devices and digital technology. However, despite a commitment to improving care quality and patient experiences, the healthcare industry still struggles to influence the factors that have the greatest impact on patient outcomes – the social determinants of health (SDOH). It’s now well-established that clinical factors have a relatively small impact on a person’s health-related quality of life. As little as 20% of the factors that influence health outcomes are attributable to clinical care. The remaining 80% includes social, economic and environmental factors – such as access to safe and clean housing, healthy food, education and transportation. Healthcare providers cannot be expected to solve these challenges alone. That said, providers will benefit from developing plans and investing in systems that foster awareness of the social determinants of health that impact their communities. This will help enable the delivery of the proactive and coordinated services patients need to live healthier lives. The pandemic intensified many of the socio-economic barriers patients face when accessing care, medication, housing and food. It forced sudden changes to the way care was delivered, making it harder for healthcare organizations to sustain high-quality services. When overwhelmed hospitals just needed to get through the day, value-based care took a hit. To support underserved communities, healthcare organizations need reliable insights into their patients’ evolving life circumstances and socio-economic challenges. SDOH data can help providers identify the right strategies to serve their patient population in the most effective way. SDOH should be at the heart of patient-centric services. Healthcare organizations that prioritize the use of SDOH data are strengthening their ability to deliver value-based care. How has the pandemic affected SDOH and value-based care? Value-based care and pay-for-performance models were gaining traction just before the pandemic, and many providers were agile enough to respond quickly to the pandemic with telehealth and other remote services. But against a tsunami of COVID-19 cases, tests and vaccination programs, reimbursement models based on quality measures such as effectiveness, efficiency and timeliness proved fragile in the midst of an emergency. As is often the case, the worst effects of the pandemic were felt most acutely by marginalized and economically vulnerable groups. For example, groups with less stable employment were less likely to have access to sick leave or remote working opportunities, putting them at greater risk of catching the virus. Many community programs were put on hold, with consequences for the individuals who relied on them for food, support, and company. Insights on the social determinants of health can help providers segment vulnerable populations that need extra assistance to take control of their health. Once these populations are identified at the patient level with insights driving one’s unique SDOH risks, providers can develop strategies to ensure the right help is given at the right time. They can offer targeted outreach to ensure patients are able to adhere to care plans and access health checks, even take their medication as prescribed. This can reduce the risk of readmission, minimize hospitalizations, and keep healthcare costs down for both patients and providers. To supplement reliance on expensive and time-consuming patient surveys (that often leave out the “why” of a patient’s circumstances), Experian Health’s SDOH solutions combine analytical expertise, machine learning and proprietary data to generate actionable recommendations on the best way to address barriers to care, medication, housing and food. Combine SDOH and consumer data to personalize patient outreach The key to successful value-based and pay-for-performance care models is treating the patient, not just the disease. Data on SDOH allows providers to offer a more personalized healthcare experience, which is even more powerful when combined with consumer data. ConsumerView pools data on patient interests, psychographics, behavioral insights and broader lifestyle insights to give providers a 360-degree view of their patients. With this data, providers can offer relevant and timely advice to help patients overcome potential obstacles to attending appointments and complying with their care plan, such as information about transportation or childcare. It can be used to personalize healthcare communications too. Rather than blasting patients with one-size-fits-all healthcare information, communications can be tailored to patients’ preferred time and format, so they’re most likely to engage with the message. Making value-based care a reality starts with knowing who your patients are and what’s stopping them from getting the care they need. Find out how Experian Health’s Social Determinants of Health turn-key solutions can give your organization the insights needed to develop resilient and responsive models of care. With these tools, your organization can lay the groundwork to improve patient outcomes, regardless of the challenges that lie ahead.

Published: February 10, 2022 by Experian Health

As patient expectations shift, providers that offer a personalized healthcare marketing experience will be more likely to attract and retain satisfied consumers. The pandemic accelerated this shift. As a result, the traditional ways of healthcare marketing are starting to fall short. For example: A healthcare marketing strategy that’s designed for an “average consumer” results in a one-size-fits-all model that doesn’t always meet a patient’s individual needs. Communication options with fixed hours and channels don’t reflect “patient first.” Outreach messages blasted to an entire patient email list miss the mark for individuals who don’t speak the language or might prefer a quick text message instead. A study by Dassault Systèmes and CITE Research found that 83% of consumers expect products and services to be personalized within moments or hours. They’re accustomed to the “one-click” digital retail experience, which offers instant access to relevant recommendations and flexibility about how and when to buy. They’re also suffering from information overload, thanks to the sheer volume of emails, messages, articles and videos flooding their digital devices. Personalized communications can remedy that and help consumers feel respected and empowered, which drives connection and loyalty. But personalization isn’t just important for patient outreach. Personalized healthcare marketing can also help ensure patients get the treatment they need, by anticipating individual needs and highlighting relevant services at the right time. With the COVID-19 pandemic continuing to influence access to care, personalized healthcare communications can also be tailored for different patient segments. This can help reassure or remind individuals to book vaccination appointments or reschedule deferred care. Improve patient engagement with personalized outreach As digital offerings grow, consumer engagement expectations evolve. Providers must keep pace and communicate accordingly. Incorporating information about patients’ lifestyles, behaviors and preferences enables providers to deliver the right message at the right time. It also helps providers select and use the most effective channel of communication. Patients are more likely to respond and are empowered to manage their healthcare journey. For example, a Gen Z patient may prefer to receive appointment reminders by text, while an older patient may prefer a physical letter. One patient may prefer to get prescriptions mailed to their home while they’re at work, while another may be content to visit a pharmacy and pick up their medication while shopping nearby. Some patients will want a text message with a payment link to clear outstanding bills immediately, while others will appreciate a customized payment plan. Experian Health’s State of Patient Access survey 2.0 found that patients welcome proactive outreach by providers, though many say this doesn’t happen. Providers recognize the value in proactive patient engagement, but many say they lack the data to reach out effectively. With reliable consumer data and analytics, providers can create holistic profiles and deliver improved marketing to better serve new and existing patients. ConsumerViewSM pools data points on core demographics, behavioral insights, psychographic information and financial data to help providers understand their patients. This data can then be analyzed using Mosaic® USA and TrueTouchSM to segment, identify and reach the target audience with the most relevant message and format, and adapt based on consumer response. ConsumerView also adheres to consumer data privacy regulations, so providers can actively engage patients and build patient loyalty while confident in the knowledge that they have permission to use the data. Reduce readmissions and improve patient outcomes with better segmentation Personalized healthcare marketing isn’t just about messaging and channels. Providers that have a holistic picture of a patient’s lifestyle, life events, geographic changes and socio-economic challenges will be in a stronger position to anticipate their evolving wants and needs. For example, social determinants of health (SDOH) data can tell providers which patients may need extra assistance when visiting a doctor’s office, so that appropriate measures can be put in place. They might help identify patients with potential comorbidities that warrant proactive reminders about preventive check-ups. Similarly, providers can segment patients according to their financial situation. This can help with creating custom payment plans and sending timely payment reminders through targeted communications channels. Effective post-admission engagement can also help patients access the support needed to adhere to care plans, thus minimizing the risk of readmission and reducing unnecessary costs. A McKinsey & Co study found that around a third of patients with unplanned, high-cost follow-up care reported reasons that were considered avoidable, such as receiving unclear post-discharge instructions. Boost retention and recruitment with patient-centric and personalized healthcare marketing As rising medical costs and pandemic-related lifestyle shifts prompt more patients to shop around for care, providers must take action to create a healthcare experience that’s truly patient-centric. With data-driven healthcare marketing tools, providers can differentiate their services from other health systems vying for the same market. Find out how Experian Health can help your organization use consumer insights to build a patient-focused, personalized health marketing strategy to attract and retain satisfied consumers.

Published: January 6, 2022 by Experian Health

Take a look at at four opportunities that healthcare marketers and patient outreach teams can incorporate into their post-pandemic playbook.

Published: September 2, 2021 by Experian Health

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