It is a tumultuous time for the healthcare industry, and health plans are not immune to the disruption. The Affordable Care Act has raised a new level of consumer awareness about the purchase of healthcare and the competitive health plan environment. Battles for market share drive the need to understand member demographics and behaviors in order to more effectively communicate with them. Health plans are trying to differentiate their services and offerings to gain a competitive advantage. Additionally, a newer, younger 
customer segment has higher expectations of speed, information and mobile accessibility.
Despite this new focus on consumer engagement, health plan infrastructure and systems are typically inadequate to meet user demands. New levels of integration are required between front-end portals and back-end systems, so health plans’ growing social and collaborative relationships with customers can be maintained. To keep costs low but yield improved customer service and satisfaction, scalable cloud-based applications are becoming increasingly viable solutions.
Having a customer relationship management (CRM) solution at the center of the overall business strategy allows health plans to adapt to new regulatory requirements while meeting the needs of the connected consumer. Tools that enable personalized user experiences in a secure, yet flexible, environment, make connected health a reality.
A comprehensive CRM solution includes marketing, customer acquisition, retention and overall care management. CRM systems help healthcare organizations have a more personalized approach when reaching consumers (they are people, not numbers) and enable patients, providers and health plans to share information easily – creating an integrated experience and improved patient outcomes.
The consumer-centric approach is all about empowering consumers to be more involved in their health journey. In order to connect with consumers, healthcare organizations must engage with them in new ways using a more personalized method. Customer relationship management (CRM) technologies allow healthcare organizations to do just that; they are a natural fit for the healthcare industry that has adopted the “retail” model.
The food, retail and healthcare industries are going to continue to merge as we head toward a more holistic health model, and CRM will be an integral part in the success of this evolution.
Is your organization using a CRM solution? How have you seen CRM solutions evolve in the healthcare industry? Share your thoughts with us on Twitter @Perficient_HC
