Health plans get low marks for patient engagement in new Healthmine survey
HealthMine surveyed 750 patients and 73 percent said their health plan doesn't seem to understand their needs.
A new survey from HealthMine of 750 insured consumers shows that 83 percent of those consumers report using digital health tools. But while the news is good for digital health, it's not as good for health plans, the group that the survey focused on.
Seventy-three percent of respondents said their health plan doesn't seem to understand their health well and 60 percent called for more communication from their health plan on something other than just bills. And even though 83 percent used digital health tools, only 22 percent said their health plan made any use of that data to help them improve their health.
"Members want one central source for their health information, and health plans can be the hub," Brennan Collins, vice president of product at HealthMine said in a statement. "To more deeply connect with members, it is better if plan sponsors communicate through each member's preferred channels and share health intelligence -- not just data. Health Intelligence leverages health data and provides real-time personalized guidance to manage health. Plans that deliver that kind of value will better engage their members."
Survey Sampling International, which conducted the survey on behalf of HealthMine, found that 52 percent of respondents with chronic conditions hear from their health plan once a year or less about their disease, and 39 percent said their health plan does not offer a price transparency tool.
HealthMine collected data about a few particular ways in which health plans could communicate with their members: social media and member portals. They found that only 37 percent of those surveyed followed their health plan on social media, but of those that did, 78 percent found it helpful. As for member portals, only 21 percent of respondents said they used their health plans member portal.
