For Customer Experience Professionals

Online CDHP Experiences Drive Members To The Contact Center

by Elizabeth Boehm, November 25, 2009

Members of consumer-directed health plans (CDHPs) are more engaged in managing their healthcare than are other commercially insured consumers, and they're also more likely to interact with their health plan online. Unfortunately, current online CDHP member . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Who Is Delaying Healthcare?

Which Consumers Put Off Care And What Health Resources They Turn To

by Elizabeth Boehm, November 23, 2009

As the recession persists and Congress deliberates on legislation for healthcare reform, consumers continue to make tough choices regarding treatment. Low-income and uninsured consumers are more likely to delay care that is recommended by their doctors . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Member Registration Plagues Health Plan Sites

Interviews Of 17 Health Plans Uncover The Need For Email Addresses

by Elizabeth Boehm, November 20, 2009

The Web is becoming a bigger part of health plans' member service and member communication strategies, but health plans struggle to drive adoption. Forrester recently interviewed customer experience professionals responsible for member service Web sites . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

PHRs: Scant Penetration And Lots Of Confusion

Consumers Report On Which Personal Health Records They're Using

by Elizabeth Boehm, November 4, 2009

In a recent Forrester survey, almost one-third of consumers reported having a personal health record (PHR) — the vast majority of which are from their health plan. Forrester doesn't believe it. These high adoption levels don't jibe with either past surveys . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Health Plan Provider Search Tools: It's Time For An Upgrade

by Elizabeth Boehm, October 29, 2009

Consumers tell us that online provider directory tools are convenient and reasonably easy to use but still fall short of helping them make decisions regarding where to get the best care for themselves and their families. To bring provider directories . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Where To Find Help With Health Risk Assessments

Product Profiles For 10 Standalone HRA Solution Vendors

by Elizabeth Boehm, October 2, 2009

Health plans, employers, government agencies, and other healthcare stakeholders use health risk assessments (HRAs) as a means of understanding a population's baseline health behaviors and attitudes as well as for assessing progress over time. The growth . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

CDHP Member Engagement Slips — Again

Health Plans Can't Count On Plan Design To Drive Healthcare Consumerism

by Elizabeth Boehm, August 26, 2009

Consumer-directed health plans (CDHPs) continue to experience rapid growth in adoption. But member engagement has declined for the second consecutive year. CDHP members are now less likely to use online health tools and actively manage their healthcare . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Consumers Respond To The Economic Downturn By Cutting Their Healthcare Spending

by Elizabeth Boehm, August 19, 2009

Congress is struggling with healthcare reform and debating issues like how to create a public plan and fund expanded coverage. But consumers have to make tough choices regarding their own health and finances today. Almost 40% of consumers report they . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Health Plans' Cross-Channel Service Imperative

Self-Service Success Requires Strong Integration With Phone Channels

by Elizabeth Boehm, August 12, 2009

More than half of US online, nonelderly, commercially insured consumers have visited their health plan's Web site last year. Once there, members avail themselves of an array of administrative tools like finding a doctor, checking a claim, and checking . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Health Plans Face A Member Experience Crisis

by Elizabeth Boehm, July 28, 2009

Health plan member experience is broken. Not only do members pan their health plan experiences across the board, but those who use health plan service solutions more frequently are less satisfied with their overall health plan experiences. Fixing this . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

How Health Plans Use Health Risk Assessments

by Elizabeth Boehm, June 18, 2009

Determined to bring medical costs under control, health plans use health risk assessments (HRAs) to inform interventions aimed at changing members' health status. In a recent survey of nine health plans, Forrester found surprisingly little consistency . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Consumers Want Healthcare Change, Lack Consensus

by Elizabeth Boehm, June 18, 2009

Healthcare reformers in Washington claim that all options are on the table. But what do consumers want? According to Forrester's Q1 2009 Healthcare Online Survey, the US public remains as divided as its politicians. Consumers' top choice, at 30%, is expanding . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

How Medicare Seniors Use Online Health Tools

by Elizabeth Boehm, May 12, 2009

More than 50% of seniors (aged 65 and older) now access the Internet at least monthly. Forrester examined our Consumer Technographics® data to see if health plans need to start focusing more attention and investment on their Medicare sites to meet . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Industry Experts Weigh In On Healthcare Reform

Insights From H.I.L. Forum's Transforming Healthcare Summit 2009

by Elizabeth Boehm, Andrew McInnes, April 27, 2009

Forrester recently attended H.I.L. Forum's Transforming Healthcare Summit 2009, which brought together four expert panelists from across the healthcare industry. Discussion focused on the speed and extent of upcoming reform, with panelists largely agreeing . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Consumers Delay Healthcare Due To Economic Woes

by Elizabeth Boehm, March 25, 2009

Industry players view healthcare as an inelastic necessity, but consumers weigh costs heavily when deciding whether to seek care or pursue a course of treatment. Unfilled prescriptions, skipped screenings, and postponed surgeries show that consumers who . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Consumers Face Healthcare Financing Fears

Health Plan Customer Experience Professionals Must Build Transparency

by Elizabeth Boehm, March 9, 2009

The deepening recession has led to consumer fears across the US economy — and healthcare is no exception. When Forrester asked US consumers about their attitudes toward healthcare costs in Q3 2008, most respondents said they anticipate cost increases, . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Where To Find Help With Automated Calling For Healthcare

Eliza, Silverlink, Varolii, Vocantas, And Warm Health Report Healthcare Program Expertise

by Elizabeth Boehm, February 11, 2009

As healthcare companies get more focused on preventive care and proactive communication, they need messaging platforms that can provide flexible, compelling experiences to a diverse range of consumers. Increasingly, firms are incorporating automated calling . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Designing For Seniors: Beyond 12-Point Fonts

Guidelines For Making Sites Useful, Usable, And Enjoyable For Older Adults

by Elizabeth Boehm, January 21, 2009

Seniors will be an increasingly important group of Web users as Baby Boomers swell their ranks over the next decade. Does the influx of users in their 60s, 70s, 80s, and even 90s necessitate a whole new approach to design? No. Seniors need the same fundamental . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Have Consumers Caught Up To Industry PHR Buzz?

A Detailed Look At Who's Keeping Paper, Electronic, And No PHR

by Elizabeth Boehm, October 30, 2008

Employers and health plans want consumers to adopt online personal health records (PHRs) in hopes of containing health costs through better healthcare choices. Unfortunately, consumers have yet to show much interest. A little less than one-third of consumers . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Topic Overview: Member Experience For Health Plans

Why And How Health Plans Must Embrace Strategic Healthcare Communications

by Elizabeth Boehm, September 22, 2008

Health plans can't afford to deliver subpar member experiences any longer. With a growing individual market, increased cost shifting, and a rising focus on disease and wellness management, strong member experience practices are the price of entry, and . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Healthcare Unbound's Untapped Potential

Insights And Challenges From The Fifth Annual Healthcare Unbound Conference

by Elizabeth Boehm, August 15, 2008

Every year thought leaders and solution providers in the areas of aging in place, remote patient monitoring, and wellness and disease management support get together to discuss advances and issues in the industry at TCBI's Healthcare Unbound Conference . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

What Consumers Do With Health Risk Assessments

How Customer Experience Professionals Can Encourage Participation Before And After Completion

by Elizabeth Boehm, July 16, 2008

One-fifth of commercially insured US consumers have completed a health risk assessment (HRA) — many at the prompting of their employers. While many of those consumers find the information they get from HRAs interesting, few have taken active measures . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Incentives Entice Employees Toward Wellness

How Employers Can Encourage Participation In Work-Based Wellness Programs

by Elizabeth Boehm, June 16, 2008

US health plans and benefits managers continue to see wellness management as a key cost-cutting strategy — and the employees who have already adopted programs agree that wellness works. But program participation remains woefully low. Nearly half of employees . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Consumers Believe That Wellness Works

Demographics And Attitudes Of Participants Suggest Expansion Opportunities

by Elizabeth Boehm, May 2, 2008

Though consumer participation in disease management and wellness support programs remains low, most early adopters believe that taking part in these programs leads to healthy behavior changes. Not surprisingly, consumers who say they've gotten involved . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Medco's Rx For Online Prescription Success

An Examination Of The Design Principles And Practices Behind My Rx Choices

by Elizabeth Boehm, May 1, 2008

The healthcare industry has been slow to adopt the disciplines of scenario design. But an examination of one of the industry's most successful sites proves that designing with a clear understanding of personas and user needs is as applicable in healthcare . . .