Barriers to member engagement in health

Socioeconomic issues were identified as the biggest barrier (29.4%) in engaging members in health and wellness, and that barrier is becoming more prevalent with families facing increased difficulty to maintain healthy lifestyles. Those who responded “other” largely indicated that member apathy and laziness were major barriers to member engagement.

In fact, in a separate survey question, 30.3% of respondents indicated that members are apathetic toward the current trend of health and wellness behaviors. An additional 7.8% believe members have become less interested in health. Considering the staggering prevalence of obesity and heart disease in the United States, managed care has a significant challenge with engagement.

Yet another big issue surrounding engagement is time and access to services, according to Paula Sauer, vice president of care management at Medical Mutual of Ohio. For example, scheduling a mammogram in some cases can take as long as nine months because of high demand for the service or long delays in obtaining a doctor’s order.

Creative solutions are needed. Medical Mutual offered its own employees online mammography scheduling without a physician’s order and brought in mobile mammography units to provide on-site service. The company experienced a 12% increase in screening rates, Sauer says.

The solution to engaging patients and members is incentives and education, she says.

“In today’s market, you have so many employers incenting wellness activities that it’s to [the members'] financial advantage to be engaged,” says Sauer.

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