Trust Is the Key to Rekindling Dwindling Satisfaction and Loyalty Among Medicare Advantage Members
Getting members activated and engaged is hard work, even when they’re highly satisfied with your plan. What happens when they’re less satisfied? It gets infinitely harder. Current trends suggest that most Medicare Advantage plans are finding themselves taking the “infinitely harder” path to member engagement.
One recent study reported an average Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 60 among the 8 largest MA plan providers. While this score dramatically outpaces the average NPS within healthcare circles, it’s not all good news. Research suggests that more than half of beneficiaries disenroll from their MA plans within 5 years. When you consider that acquiring a new MA member can cost between $3,000-$5,000, it’s clear this trend has serious implications.
Meanwhile, member satisfaction has been steadily slipping. In 2022, almost 16% of Medicare Advantage and Prescription Drug Plan (MAPD) contracts boasted a 5 Star rating from CMS. By 2024, that percentage dropped to less than 10%. Conversely, in 2022, less than 1% of plans recorded a Star rating lower than 3. By 2024, more than 5% of plans fell below this threshold. This decline in ratings highlights the growing challenge of maintaining member satisfaction.
Obviously to increase satisfaction and loyalty, plans need to boost opportunities for positive engagement. But as noted above, when members are already dissatisfied, engagement is even harder to achieve. Is there a silver bullet for solving this riddle? Not exactly. However, a critical component is doing what you can to build trust, which is the clearest barometer for member satisfaction and retention.
According to J.D. Power’s 2023 Medicare Advantage Study, trust is the biggest factor influencing retention for MA plans. Unfortunately, 62% of consumers don’t trust their health plans as reputable sources when they’re searching for care.
Trust opens the door to engagement, which creates opportunities to increase satisfaction and loyalty. How is your plan currently building trust among your members? If you don’t have a clear answer, it’s important to find one.
Another important factor to consider in building trust with members is the powerful bond they have with their personal doctors. Often, older Americans view any new product, service or program through the lens of their patient-physician relationship. They will question whether their doctor would approve or recommend what you are presenting. If you aren’t careful, your request could be seen as a threat to the trust they share with their doctor. Keep this in mind when messaging members and look for ways to diffuse this reaction. Better yet, find ways to show how your services support the patient-physician relationship. If you can accomplish this, you can leverage the trust members place in their doctors.
In our recent eBook, “Bringing Value Home: How Medicare Advantage Plans Can Engage High-Risk, Medically Complex Members”, we outline proven strategies to earn trust and boost engagement. These include:
● Setting joy as your experiential North Star
● Taking the long view by prioritizing relationships
● Empowering members with peer to peer support
● Establishing a comprehensive data strategy
To dig in and glean what we’ve learned from more than 250,000 interactions with MA members across the country, click here for a copy of the eBook.