2020 highlighted important ways Payers can use their portal, and these trends will carry over into this year and beyond. As we look back on the lessons learned from 2020, it’s also time to plan ahead for meeting the demands of your customers this year.
Here are three portal-related lessons from 2020 and why they’re important for your 2021 business success.
Lesson 1: Provide an Online Option
In 2020, your members, providers, and clients had months to get used to doing things online. Now that the adjustment has been made, that’s what these parties are comfortable doing.
Online capabilities are now the expectation, not the exception. Tools like online enrollment, secure email, and mobile access will be what’s expected from your portal.
If you’re not providing a mobile-optimized portal that lets users manage benefits, patient care, and plan management online, 2021 is the year to do it. Your users are expecting it.
Lesson 2: Show How Much it Costs
The tumult of COVID-19 brought about a common question among employers and patients – how much does it cost? Whether it was the cost of the vaccine, cost of testing, or cost to the employer, that important question will still be in the spotlight in 2021.
Employers have realized they can no longer be a bench player when it comes to employee healthcare costs. Costs will be a key focus this year. How well does your portal show the cost of their health plan?
HPS’ reporting gives you and your clients self-service access to reports of your claim spending, top diagnoses, and high-cost claimants. Use these reports to answer your clients’ questions about health plan costs and empower them to take a more active role in cost control.
Lesson 3: Move Your Business Workflows Online
Paper-based, manual processes work as long as there are people physically available to manage them. 2020 showed us that business must continue when that physical presence is not an option.
In 2020, several HPS clients successfully moved their business workflows online to eliminate paper-based, manual efforts. Read examples of managing enrollment online and managing claim submission online in their success stories.
Moving online fulfilled these clients’ short term need to continue business processes in spite of remote work operations. But you know what? In 2021, they’ll be operating more efficiently than last year because they’ll continue managing those workflows online.
If business processes like enrollment, claim and authorization submission, or billing are still managed manually or on paper, 2021 is the year to move it online. Many businesses already have a leg up on this; these same abilities will help you compete in the market.
2021 is an opportunity for a new start, much more so than an average “new year.” Don’t miss this opportunity to deliver your clients’ expectations for virtual solutions, to communicate costs with transparency, and to operate more efficiently as a business.
Schedule a demo to get a portal that drives solid business success in 2021.