Do You Have a Medicare + Choice Plan of Action?
Healthcare is on the heels of a bold new phase that will place an ever greater emphasis on consumer branding and marketing for health plans and physicians. This phase, coined "the age of consumerism" by Howard R. Veit, a managing principal with the health industry consulting firm Towers Perrin, will transform managed care plans into more aggressive consumer-marketing organizations and physicians into customer service leaders.
The major industry driver of this consumerism push is the growing expectation that individuals will absorb a greater share of their own healthcare costs. This turns health plan users into healthcare consumers. This year, health plan premium increases are expected to rise by 6 to 9 percent.
"Marketing-oriented health plans will seek partnerships with provider organizations that have the capability of efficiently managing care to large enrolled populations," Veit told attending doctors last week at the Independent Physicians Association conference in New York.
Marketing strategies that involve segmenting, mass-customization and competitive pricing will come out ahead.
A case in point is the wide array of health plan options recently offered by HCFA's Medicare + Choice plan that were made available Jan. 1. While these options certainly are welcomed by seniors who want the freedom to choose from the menu of traditional plans and contemporary offerings like MSAs (medical savings accounts) and private fee-for-service, it is up to health plans to help seniors navigate their choices and alleviate confusion.
Having a strategic marketing plan to help seniors in your service area make sense of the new Medicare options is essential to earning their loyalty and business, say Marshall A Hershberg and Vera K. Salter, principals of Pittsburgh healthcare planning and marketing firm Hershberg Salter Associates (HSA).
They offer a six-point framework for organizing a Medicare + Choice marketing strategy. Highlights include:
- Designate an in-house team of Medicare + Choice experts. A small number of staff, including marketing and finance employees and older adult volunteers, should be responsible for communicating this Medicare information internally (to Board members, medical staff and other employees) and externally (to seniors and their caregivers).
- Present objective options. While discussing the Medicare + Choice options in which your organization participates, include the pros and cons. Customer loyalty is derived from presenting honest and straightforward information.
- Make the strategy easy for your medical staff, who are likely to be inundated with many of the same kinds of questions. Provide them with educational updates, handouts and a phone number for patients to call for more information.
- Recognize the need for multi-channel communications. To reach today's seniors and their families, your communications has to involve a multi-tier approach like printed materials, broadcast public service announcements, seminars and workshops.
- Go to the community. Identify leaders from your senior membership program to be on your organization's expert task force for educational events, newsletter articles and individual counseling.
- Reach out to family caregivers - the "sandwich generation." This audience is an important but often overlooked target in senior marketing efforts. They need clear and objective information to assist their parents in making Medicare + Choice decisions.
(Towers Perrin, Robert McGee, Howard Veit, 914/745-4179; HSA, Marshall Hershberg, 412/421-9266; email: [email protected])
Medicare + Choice Options
As of the New Year, Medicare options for seniors have exploded under HCFA's Medicare + Choice plan. Here's an overview of the options seniors will need to be educated about:
- Traditional Medicare will remain available to any beneficiaries who wish to stay with it or choose it at age 65.
- Original Medicare with supplemental policies, known as Medigap insurance, will be available through private insurance companies. Seniors can choose up to 10 standardized Medigap policies to supplement their Medicare coverage.
Source: Hershberg Salter Associates.