Engage and Retain Health Plan Members with Wellness Kits

1/9/2024 Cindy Thomas

As a health insurance provider, you should have two primary objectives at the top of your to-do list: engaging and retaining members. One way to accomplish both objectives is by providing your members with strategically planned, targeted wellness kits. 

Wellness kits — which range from appreciation and benefit boxes to diagnostic and preventive care packages — serve to not only stoke brand loyalty among members but also encourage members to be more involved in their own wellness.

The kits themselves can take many forms, depending upon your company’s goals and your ultimate objectives for them — and their benefits to members will vary accordingly. Here are just a few examples:

• Member appreciation kits: promoting home safety, addressing social isolation, and helping members prepare for telemedicine visits. 
• Benefit kits: welcoming new members, introducing supplemental benefits, and providing members with detailed information on how a plan works.
• Diagnostic kits: at-home diagnostics, lab collection, and kits to help monitor remote patients.
• Episodic care kits: for diabetes care and prevention, congestive heart failure prevention and healthy heart care, and kits for mothers and babies.
• Preventive care kits: wellness-themed kits designed to help members be proactive about their health, addressing such topics as flu preparedness, oral health, smoking cessation, and opioid safety and disposal.

Benefits for Payers

As noted earlier, health plans can experience myriad benefits by offering their members wellness kits, including: 

Increased engagement: Wellness kits encourage a partnership with members to accomplish their individualized care plan (ICP) — in effect, strengthening the bond between the health plan and the beneficiary.

Brand loyalty: Wellness kits go a long way toward member retention and brand loyalty. Satisfied members are more likely to renew their membership — they’ll endorse the brand to friends and family, and they’ll proudly use branded premium items they receive.

Early intervention: Regular use of at-home care kits can aid in early intervention and prevention efforts. By detecting potential health issues earlier, companies can recommend care plan changes and get members back on track when necessary.

Health equity: At-home medical devices and diagnostics allow members to actively monitor their health from home, which can lead to improved health outcomes. This promotes equity for at-risk members who might hesitate to visit a clinic in person.

Cost savings: At-home diagnostic kits can potentially reduce healthcare costs for health plans and members. When members use diagnostic kits at home, payers avoid charges from healthcare facilities or labs for certain routine tests. Plus, regular remote testing can keep chronic conditions in check, reducing the need for more expensive treatments in the future. 

Benefits for Members

Of course, it’s critical that members realize benefits from wellness kits as well — otherwise, the kits will have minimal impact. Here are just a few benefits that members can derive from kits: 

They’re convenient, accessible, and anonymous. Members appreciate that they can conduct certain medical tests from the comfort of their own homes. They don’t have to schedule an appointment, travel to a healthcare facility, or wait for test results. They can also access important diagnostic information without disrupting their daily routines. 

The kits are empowering. When members receive a wellness kit that includes medical devices or at-home diagnostics, they can then actively monitor their health on a regular basis — at home. By monitoring their own wellness, members can enjoy a sense of control and ownership over their healthcare.

Kits offer personalized care and support. At-home kits can offer valuable data that informs caregivers of needed interventions, recommendations, and support tailored to each member's specific needs. Because the resources, education, and interventions are targeted, members can benefit at a faster pace. 

In addition, wellness kits provide a way for members to proactively prevent diseases. A recent “Wellness Matters” survey by Aflac found that about half of American adults have skipped at least one routine health screening, and a quarter of adults have skipped routine checkups. Wellness kits can help members detect potential health issues earlier and get necessary medical care. They may even prompt a member to set up an important screening appointment. 

Kit components

To ensure your members get the maximum benefit from wellness kits, consider the following when conceptualizing and assembling kit components:

• Make kit contents diverse and relevant. Include engaging educational materials about fitness, nutrition, mental health, and other related topics. 
• Allow members to select the contents to meet their specific needs — choice is a powerful incentive to ensure the kits are expected and appreciated. The kit should be considered an extension of your brand, so the included items should be of excellent quality and relevant to the objectives of each kit. 
• Incorporate an interactive element. This might include things like puzzles, challenges, trackers, word searches, and other games, which tend to be popular with members — and are low in cost. It’s best if these items relate to the rest of the kit’s contents.

When exploring avenues to drive member engagement and retention, wellness kits can prove extremely effective in forging a strong bond between members and the companies that serve them. 

Cindy Thomas is the Director of Business Development for RRD Healthcare Solutions. To learn about RRD’s care kit solution, a turnkey offering that closes gaps in at-home care, visit: rrd.com/industries/healthcare/provider-solutions.