Managed Care Organizations (MCOs) play a pivotal role in ensuring the well-being of Medicaid members. They help coordinate members’ services, ensure efficient access to quality care, and promote overall well-being. However, MCOs face a considerable challenge in their efforts: reaching and engaging with members.

Traditional outreach methods (such as phone calls or direct mail) have a history of falling short. In a recent case study, we showed how these traditional methods often require 30-45 minutes of members’ attention to complete critical tasks like HRS completion and lead to high drop-off rates.

Simply, traditional methods often fall short of providing the personalized and timely communication needed to address the diverse needs of Medicaid populations.

To best face the complexity of member engagement requires a digital and scalable approach. Fostering meaningful and continuous communication with Medicaid members is a key to success for MCOs.

Step One: Identify Member Segments

The best outreach strategies recognize and plan for the diverse landscape of Medicaid members. This requires a nuanced approach that recognizes each segment’s unique characteristics, needs, and preferences. MCOs can then tailor their engagement strategies, ensuring that communication is not only targeted but also resonates on a personal level.

Divide members into segments based on their journey: adult, child, risk category, or behavioral health. From there, identify their needs, potential barriers to health, and their motivations to craft a tailored strategy.

Step Two: Create Personalized Touchpoints

Once you identify member segments, the next pivotal step is crafting personalized touchpoints that speak directly to each segment’s unique needs and preferences.

There will be common activities for all segments, such as an annual wellness visit or recertification. However, after that, adult members may require health literacy, reminders for preventive screenings, or disease-specific reminders. Behavioral health members could require access to mental health resources or reminders for medication. Ensure the right information goes to the right audience.

Step Three: Establish Communication Cadence

With member segments identified and personalized touchpoints in place, the last step is establishing a communication cadence. MCOs working with Sagitec’s HealConnect found that 48% of members complete their health risk screenings after 6 p.m., and over 20% complete theirs on the weekend.

Digital outreach methods outperform traditional because they target messages to be sent at the most effective time. Integrating this last step into your outreach strategy ensures the right audience receives the right information at the right time.

Conclusion

For MCOs looking to engage and serve their members more effectively, crafting the right outreach strategy is a strong first step. From identifying diverse member segments to crafting personalized touchpoints and establishing an effective communication cadence, MCOs can look forward to better connections and see members take more charge of their health.

To learn more about Sagitec’s HealConnect and how it can help your organization with member engagement at scale, visit our website.