Approximately 15 million individuals currently enrolled in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) are at risk of falling off of these programs during the redetermination processes. Many Medicaid members are not returning their renewal forms. How can you educate, motivate and activate your Medicaid participants? How can you increase the response rate of your Medicaid members during unwinding and beyond?
Here are six tips for using digital for Medicaid member engagement:
- Get User Feedback. What are the barriers to completing the redetermination application? A third of the Medicaid population may have limited digital literacy, therefore the design of your website and information should have simple interfaces, clear instructions and be compatible across various platforms. Involving your end users in the design process can ensure better uptake and use of your websites. Use a mystery shopper to go through the steps required and provide you with insights on the gaps.
- Provide multilingual support. 32% of the Medicaid population’s first language is not English. To ensure information is accessible and inclusive, make sure all critical information and instructions are available in multiple languages. Google Translate is not good enough. Get human translations. Consider adding a virtual agent chatbot to your website and program your chatbot with content they is translated by humans.
- Be available on nights and weekends. Enable users to get answers and get help when it’s convenient to them. People want support on nights and weekends. A virtual assistant solution can provide answers to general questions 24/7.
- Take a multichannel approach. Offer multiple outlets to help guide members through the enrollment process. This can include web-based chat platforms and mobile tools like SMS. Simple text reminders can be sent to individuals who have started but not completed their applications or who may be missing some required documentation. SMS reminders are affordable and easy to implement. Chatbot virtual agents can be made available 24/7 when live customer support may not be available. They can be placed on websites or social media pages and can include all relevant information as well as an option to schedule time to talk with someone or be referred to a service.
- Provide information in a clear and concise manner. Use plain language to explain eligibility criteria, benefits and processes. Introduce natural language processing to your chatbot solutions so that individuals can type questions in whatever format they are most comfortable, reducing frustration of errors.
- Offer human support if digital isn’t cutting it. Have the option for people to be referred to a customer service representative who can answer specific questions and guide members through the enrollment process over the phone or through a live online chat.
Need help engaging with Medicaid members? Trying to cut down on call volume, wait times, and reduce call abandonment rates? Contact us. We can help you design a digital strategy to educate, motivate and activate your members in this unwinding.