They might take to social media to communicate with friends and check out news, and resort to all sorts of technology to track their fitness and diet efforts, but when it comes to their health plans, the majority of Americans who are covered by a plan don't rely on social media to keep them current with plan information.
In fact, according to health care technology company HealthMine, 63 percent of health plan members don't go to social media at all to connect with their plans, whether they have other connections elsewhere or not.
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HealthMine, characterizing social media as "an important communication tool for the health care industry to connect with, engage and help members better manage their health," said that a connection via social media can not only "humaniz[e] an organization and [build] trust with members," it can also provide a "direct pipeline to the topics, trends and events affecting [participants] in real time."
But apparently the majority of participants don't agree — at least not yet. According to a January 2017 HealthMine survey of 750 consumers with sponsored health insurance, while some people do go to social media to interact with their plans — some even doing so on more than one platform, with 31 percent saying they do so via Facebook, 10 percent choosing LinkedIn and 17 percent each opting for Instagram and Twitter — 63 percent chose "none of the above" when asked the question.
And, among participants who do follow their plans on social media, when asked, "Does your plan give you helpful information on social media?" 78 percent said yes, while the other 22 percent said no. And both those answers leave a lot of room for growth.
"Health plans must optimize every communication tool to meet members on their terms," said Brennan Collins, vice president of product at HealthMine. Collins added, "Social media is obviously a growing venue for plans to effectively educate members with preventive information, tools and strategies for health behavior change and other important data."
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