Resnick Unplugged

Health Plan Gut Check

"Everybody has a plan when they step in the ring, until I punch ’em in the face." —Mike Tyson

For health plans the 24-months leading up to the Patient Protection Affordable Care Act (PPACA) 2014 most jarring market reforms mean getting prepared to manage uncertainty. Which of reform’s changes are going to stick…which will fade away?  How will existing competitors react…which new ones will appear in your markets?

It’s time for some serious introspection, scenario building and strategic planning. Tough questions need to be asked (and answered) about legacy core competencies in tomorrow’s reformed marketplace. In other words, sustainability of your health plan’s value chain—the series of individual activities within your enterprise that when linked together, combine to add comparative value to a final products or services.

It’s time for health plans to “get their act together” around six critical areas of focus.  Here are some questions to spark internal debate and begin a PPACA transformation assessment:

1. Brand Position What’s your unique selling proposition in a reformed marketplace likely to see increased competition and disintermediation the individual and small group markets by Exchanges? 
2. Customer Segmentation Are you quantifying and profiling new customer segments that you’ll be serving in 2014: previously uninsured, pre-ex time-bombs, newly subsidized, abandon employees, Medicare boomers, etc.? 
3. Customer Acquisition Are marketing’s multi-channel lead generation tactics being optimized across sales distribution outlets (e.g., field agents, telesales, online, mobile, retail)? 
4. User Experience Is your health plan delivering a LifeTime Value, loyalty-based customer experience driven by retention metrics and built around superior member engagement? 
5. Product Diversification Are products and services being evaluated in terms of diversified future opportunity that goes beyond basic medical benefits and PPACA constraints? 
6. Marketing Remix Is customer outreach moving from low engagement, monologue marketing to high engagement, two-way consumer conversations for tomorrow’s always-on, socialized member?

A final word that says it all: “…an organization’s vision should describe a set of ideals and priorities to create a picture of the future, a sense of what makes the company special and unique. It defines a core set of principles that the company stands for, and a broad set of compelling criteria that will help define organizational success." —Oren Harari

For a free copy of the recently released Solutions Brief, "Healthcare Reform Readiness: A Transformation Toolkit", click here:  http://bit.ly/z3VLkE  

 

Marketing & Healthcare: Top 20 Trends Going into 2012

MARKETING

In the next two years more people will be accessing the Web via mobile device than desktop computer- http://bit.ly/oevODr

Competitive intelligence means knowing your rivals better than they know themselves - http://goo.gl/vhYzl

Strategically intelligent businesses are data-rich and insight richer...they know their customers - http://bit.ly/ongvUT

There are four keys to unlocking the black box of “social retail”…ubiquitous, seamless, dynamic, and intuitive - http://bit.ly/rz9BGP

Next time you have to make a marketing presentation don’t underestimate the power of a good story - http://goo.gl/6nTW

With 80+% adults online, what are their devices of choice and what are their digital destinations - http://goo.gl/NhjXB

Combining a treasure trove of individualized data with tentacles of social media means marketing has gotten personal - http://bit.ly/oUuW18

Marketing in economic uncertainty means staying creative, being deliberate and taking accountability - http://goo.gl/qm9GR

The “why and how” we interact online has a lot of variables, it’s these “pivot points” that will shape future of social networking - http://goo.gl/Mf1rn

Today’s consumer is no longer a target at the end of a sales funnel; they're now at the center of a 24/7 brand dialogue - http://goo.gl/E7WQP


HEALTHCARE

What’s it going to take for health plans to survive (and thrive) as they prepare for 2014 market reforms - http://goo.gl/gOyWs

Whose buying individual health insurance these days, you may be surprised - http://goo.gl/fY1j0

The 3 million boomers/year aging into Medicare will strain the finance and delivery system; let’s laugh while we can - http://goo.gl/GfC7h

Competition among health insurance plans varies across the country, but most states are dominated by only a few heavyweights - http://goo.gl/mxI31

As 2012 presidential candidates challenge Obama’s health care policies, their positions deserve a close look- http://goo.gl/2l818

Consumers describe shopping for health insurance with terms such as “dread, confusion, frustration, mistrust”, the burden is on health plans to fix it - http://bit.ly/rWMZnw

Next generation wellness is starting to catch-on across the benefits marketplace, here’s an example - http://bit.ly/rIOF9N

Health care consumes a huge share of a family’s disposable income, and government programs add big-bucks to the federal deficit - http://bit.ly/pAqAdB

Medicare Advantage has taken big hits over the last few years and now it may be time for Medigap to step-up to the plate - http://goo.gl/AW8Sa

One of healthcare’s big dogs addresses health care reform from the employer’s point-of-view - http://bit.ly/oaMKpg

Personally Relevant Marketing

I recently had the opportunity to attend an interview with Lester Wunderman at the Direct Marketing Association’s annual conference. As many know, Mr. Wunderman is one of the original Mad Men, credited with being a primary architect behind direct marketing (e.g., “1-800” number, magazine inserts, marketing strategist behind American Express card).

Fifty years ago Mr. Wunderman made a ground-breaking speech about the birth of direct marketing in this country (for a copy of that speech in its original form, click here). An amazing amount of what he spoke about in 1961 still holds true, even as we witness today’s remarkable transmogrification of communications and media. When asked if he would still use the label “Direct Marketing”, he responded “If I were to name the industry today, I would call it Personal Advertising—an idea driven by consumer data and made possible by the rapid explosion of technology.”

Data First
Personal advertising means collecting, analyzing, interpreting consumer data and turning it into actionable intelligence. It provides a detailed, predictive understanding of prospects buying and decision-making characteristics–purchasing habits, lifestyle or lifestage attributes, psychographic profiles, and most recently, digital device and destination preferences. The result is a more insightful ability to diversify product portfolios, redefine marketplace outreach, and better manage sales cycles. For existing customers, the more you know about what’s important to them, where they go for information, who’s at risk of leaving, and who are most loyal–the more customers you will keep.

Social Marketing
Personal advertising also means shifting from low engagement to high engagement marketing tactics. It’s a form of interactive social engagement, moving from brand monologue to customer dialogue. Why? Because customers are in control. They’re talking about you, reviewing you, and comparing your prices. Remember, it’s the customer that determines your value and defines your brand…so listen to them and engage in their personal conversation!  Marketing has always been where strategy and creativity converge. It’s where ideas sizzle, innovation comes alive, and customer relationships begin. It synchs with sales through a series of sequenced activities directed at acquiring and keeping customers.

Personally Relevant
Marketing analytics make it possible for companies to have a 360 degree view of their customer and make a connection in today’s demographically and generationally fragmented marketplace. The result is marketing that encourages immediate consumer interaction through creative messaging. It’s distinctive, customized and most of all, personally relevant. It leverages the always-on, device carrying connected consumer with an ability to message at moments of maximum influence. When orchestrated effectively, it enhances product awareness and contributes to brand equity while generating revenue producing sales.  

Impact Trends

Turn Information Into Knowledge

As we move from summer to the home stretch of 2011, I don’t expect a let-up in the amount or pace of change. Social media and digital distribution continue to play havoc in the world of marketing and customer communication. On the healthcare front, reform (PPACA) continues to have significant impact on the health insurance industry, medical delivery, and consumers feeling the pressure as they figure out how, when, and where they finance and obtain healthcare.

The following information addresses12 “impact trends” in healthcare and marketing. Hopefully it’s the basis for the knowledge needed to anticipate the future.

MARKETING

Social media’s growth continues. New tools for business acquisition and customer retention are activated and working, but many are playing catch-up- http://bit.ly/pm4sSe

Customer engagement (i.e., UX) cuts across every aspect of a health plan’s business: new customer attraction, member retention, and quality ratings. And, it’s up to marketing to deliver- http://goo.gl/BGyri

Some may think we’re regressing to pictures on the cave wall, but here are some quick facts about using…and abusing QR Codes-http://on.mash.to/p6txGR

Online marketing spend is on the rise. Best practices are emerging to optimize your digital channel, from lead nurturing to customer experience- http://bit.ly/pgG1ii

Conversational marketing creates true customer interaction; they expect to be listened to and engaged with, not just sold to. Success takes deep understanding of your customer- http://bit.ly/o3w3zr

Going mobile – 4 billion mobile phones worldwide, 200 million mobile YouTube views/day, and by 2014 more people will access the Web via mobile device than desktop- http://bit.ly/oevODr


HEALTHCARE

Healthcare digital technology is hot and venture money is alive and well. Where’s VC money coming from and where’s it going can provide some useful insights- http://slidesha.re/n4890R

Health insurance premium rate hikes are being reviewed to determine what’s reasonable...and what’s not. Here’s a state-by-state scorecard- http://bit.ly/oNdaFz

PPACA what’s it going to take? Health insurance senior leaders predict a future of medical cost management, diversification, and capturing retail healthcare consumers- http://bit.ly/n5Ugv0

Highest/lowest healthcare spending among U.S. cities shows extreme swings that will force tough decisions and major health policy redirection: http://bit.ly/oaKl6q

Universal summary of benefits aims to make health insurance easier to understand for consumers is now being prescribed under new PPACA rules- http://goo.gl/d7z6N

Health Benefit Exchanges are on every health plan’s radar screen. As lead technology vendor, Dell looks at lessons learned under Romneycare- http://bit.ly/reOTqT

Lastly, for answers to your questions on theeconomy, politics, business trends and much more, here’s one of the most reliable resources available- http://goo.gl/zZNOA

Information Palooza: Healthcare & Marketing

Here’s a mid-year recap looking at top healthcare and marketing issues that policymakers, entrepreneurs, and consumers are wrestling with—Accountable Care Organizations, social media, PPACA, disruptive innovation, user experience, and Medicare. These issues are shaping the current landscape from presidential politics to a changing marketing mix.

HEALTHCARE
With 30+% US adults obese, what about healthy-living vouchers that let the guy with the Slurpie & Cheetos in the next cubicle pay his own way - http://on.wsj.com/fGg3k9 

We can’t tax our way out of the country’s Medicare conundrum – no how, no way - http://goo.gl/NO2kk

Healthcare consumerism remains in a state of confusion, intimidation and frustration rule the day; patient satisfaction is low and they’re looking for answers - http://bit.ly/k6eo9T

Are ACOs “back to the future” HMO limited access, or truly a way to move pay-for-performance with providers having skin in the game?  http://ti.me/mr1R0P also - http://goo.gl/fdl2R

Calling all health care reform policy wonks, take this ten question test: ObamaCare v RomneyCare—can you tell the difference? http://bit.ly/lnjLRG

Medicare Advantage shortened selling season means failure to prepare (which is NOW) is preparing to fail - http://goo.gl/4zxas

With 52 million uninsured and most others squeezed between benefits and clinical decisions – upscale concierge medicine marches on - http://goo.gl/EQygc

Top 25 Twitter accounts healthcare professionals should be following to stay “in the know” - http://bit.ly/iJOMzf


MARKETING
From Gen X to Grandpa, what are people doing online…a look at digital consumers by generation tells an interesting story - http://bit.ly/gw99Tl

Link between brand and UX is stronger than ever in your value chain...its healthcare’s game-changer for the next 3-years - http://bit.ly/m0Ga2f

The power of the RIGHT message… http://bit.ly/hXMYRS

Company innovator says go, but the bosses say no... is it about being first or being best? Some thoughts on innovation - http://n.pr/lFFgcg

Social media’s mind-boggling trend when you see it all in one place, summed-up in a “what happens every 60-second” context - http://goo.gl/zyzKZ

“They’ll never buy it on the Web” - - - really? Cyberseniors are on it, buying and loving it – digital Medicare here we come – http://goo.gl/DIQYT

WPP’s Top 100 most valuable global brands; where do you stand - http://goo.gl/fBjGX

Scan me like a can of beans...marketing embraces QR codes - http://bit.ly/hiMmPm

 

What's Hot?

Reform, Hospitals, Benefits, Consumers and Medicare


Social Media F-Factor Social media, social networking and social commerce are the new marketing frontier. Each revolves around the influence of friends, fans, and followers on consumers’ purchasing decisions. It’s about how people discover (and design) new products and services,  how they rate them and provide personalized feedback, and how the purchasing cycle has become much more of a group buying decision.  It’s the friends, fans and followers F-Factor! CLICK HERE

Health Benefit Exchanges (HIX) Creating an efficient healthcare exchange that offers individuals and small groups the maximum number of affordable insurance options requires embracing several core tenets: commitment to consumer choice; innovative provider network and benefit designs, and; risk-sharing mechanisms that reward insurers, providers and consumers for improved health outcomes at lower cost. In New York state, policymakers are hard at work to reform individual and small-group insurance markets. This research paper shares important lessons learned along the way. CLICK HERE

Hospitals Best-of-the-Best Of the nation’s 5,000 hospitals, which ones have the most superior clinical quality? Which are preeminent at in terms of potential lives saved and in-hospital complications avoided? America’s 50 best hospitals are located in 28 cities in 19 states with populations ranging from 266,000 to 18 million people. As it has for the last five years, HealthGrades recently published its annual review of what the top 50 of best-performing hospitals have in common. CLICK HERE

Insurance Agent Dilemma With Medical Loss Ratios (MLR) putting the squeeze on compensation and health exchanges looking to turn health insurance into an online shopping mall, the future for agents isn’t getting easier anytime soon.  But wait; product diversification opportunities combined with an onslaught of boomers who hold over 75% of U.S. assets and control 50% of discretionary spending, maybe the opportunity agents are looking for…if they can return to solution selling. CLICK HERE

Medicare Marketing Timeline As usual, the regulations have changed. Compliance is expected to be tougher than last year. The Medicare Advantage selling season is shorter than it’s ever been. And, competitive rivalry shows no signs of letting up. If you haven’t started your 2012 Medicare marketing process by now you’re already behind the curve. This Medicare marketing calendar provides a step-by-step guide so no deadline is missed. CLICK HERE

New Perspective on Employee Benefits Economic turmoil has changed employee benefits forever. Employers need to relook at employee loyalty and satisfaction, or as economic recovery takes hold there will be setbacks for retention and productivity. For example, today’s workforce has grown so dissatisfied and disloyal, that one in three employees surveyed expresses hope they’ll be working elsewhere in the next 12-months. Workers are ready for more personalized, flexible benefits. For employers, balancing costs and benefits is not about spending more — it’s about spending differently. CLICK HERE

State-of-the-States Health At the same time state budgets are crunched by shrinking revenues, 2010 saw an increase in Medicaid enrollments. And plagued by chronic unemployment, we also saw an uptick in most states’ uninsured populations – in last two years 57% of men and women who lost a job with health benefits became uninsured. States are also grappling with their responsibilities under PPACA – high risk pools, exchanges, rate regulation and market reforms. This report from State Coverage Initiatives provides a comprehensive review of what’s going on in health policy at states across the country. CLICK HERE

Intelligence Unplugged: Top 25 Tweets of 2011

We’re three months into 2011 and there’s a lot going on! Following are the best tweets so far this year covering healthcare, marketing, insurance and strategy.  There’s tons of information, so click through for a deep dive on topics such as PPACA, Long Term Care, business trends, marketing gurus, wellness, and digital customers.

HEALTHCARE

Healthcare’s efficiency & cost dilemma: any fool can make something complex; it takes a genius to make something simple - http://bit.ly/hpIJ7o

Long Term Care needs are the big dark cloud hanging over boomers – fail to prepare, prepare to fail - http://bit.ly/harIj9

With Medicaid set to grow by 16 million, looming question is who’s going to meet this group’s pent-up demand for medical care - http://bit.ly/hqbEIO

Today’s wellness conundrum is measuring ROI – is it hard dollar savings or number of employee engaged? - http://bit.ly/h0qqNJ

“The Hot Spotters” or “stats-and-stethoscopes” attacking medical cost problem across US by stealth targeting - http://nyr.kr/hLme4u

Hospitals can’t sit back while PPACA takes hold; must retool, reengineer and reestablish in healthcare ecosystem’s new value chain - http://bit.ly/enYeSe


MARKETING

Future of marketing is data, direct and digital...and the big guys get it better than most - http://bit.ly/gDvNzC

Best practice database marketing tracks and measures customer interactions and turns data into intelligence to predict the future - http://bit.ly/fkF3Rx

History’s your marketing timeline bellwether of keeping pace with fast & furious change: anticipate, prepare & act - http://bit.ly/9xmfPb

Modern day “mad man” speaks about data, innovation, globalization and going BIG “only dead fish swim with current” - http://bit.ly/fjXqQB

Marketing’s forces of change...crowdsourcing, apps, boomers, green, health, travel...and much more - http://bit.ly/ewf94y

Keeping your brand alive with digital consumers takes different right time, right places tactical formula - http://bit.ly/gmTGAw


INSURANCE

Health Care Reform still has most people confused is opportunity for brokers & insurers to get out front to educate, advise & guide - http://bit.ly/fWFvUZ

Nursing home@$80k/yr & home care@$20k/yr, is PPACA CLASS Act answer to Long Term Care when boomers are ready- http://1.usa.gov/gLVe0W

A workable compromise to PPACA’s individual mandate means exploring alternatives and making tough decisions and compromises - http://bit.ly/eFdvfo

Medicare Star Ratings are driving this industry segment hard, will the force (aka CMS) be with them? - http://bit.ly/i1NGrH

PPACA’s big challenge: who wins regulators or entrepreneurs? Place your bets - http://bit.ly/a3G5GC

Healthcare consumerism means customers (member/patient/beneficiary) have skin in the game, but all players must ante-up - http://bit.ly/gQo6wn


STRATEGY

Cool business ideas across the entrepreneurial spectrum to get your innovation genes moving - http://bit.ly/g66avm

Good luck keeping up mega-trends shaping the competitive landscape throughout 2011- http://bit.ly/gmP1Ko

Social media at a tipping point, a step backwards or an inconsequential blip in society’s ability to communicate and influence the revolution - http://nyr.kr/fLqX1e

We’ve entered the Year of the Boomer, what’s their view of future: money and retirement - http://linkd.in/hCGBGG

TMI, multitasking, screen envy, communication overload–how’s it affecting productivity and creativity of today’s executives - http://bit.ly/g2gfJF

Always worthwhile Trendwatching– keep an eye on wealthy and urbanomics - http://bit.ly/fVxN7P

Best way to anticipate and stay ahead of trends is with top 50 healthcare industry blogs - with Resnick Unplugged @ #15 - http://bit.ly/hsukba

Strategy drives...everything!

Strategic vision is the futurity of today’s decisions. It works to anticipate change, focus on competitive threats, and assess long-term business implications. To be effective, it’s essential that your vision draws on sophisticated customer insight. The goal is to take an organization where it needs to be by creating a roadmap on how to get there.

At its core, a sustainable strategy is built around an effort that allows management to look deep within the organization, ask & answer tough questions, and make informed decisions about strategic options.

The following questions provide a strategy “stress test” to help refine your planning process starting at the intersection of three key business drivers: competitors, customers and company.

1. How are you different from competitors…comparative market advantages/disadvantages?
2. Are you leveraging a sustainable Dominant Selling Idea that delivers customer value?
3. How are you selecting new markets, products and services?
4. Who are your top five competitors and why do you beat them…why do you lose?
5. Have you developed proprietary insights and translated them into actionable strategy?
6. Are you ahead of competitive trends and industry best practices?
7. Where’s the customer in the marketing mix…product, price, promotion, and place?
8. Have you identified and/or neutralized uncertainty in the decision process?
9. Is there cross-management buy-in and commitment to addressing the future?
10. Are you managing institutional bias to facilitate diversification and innovation?
11. Is there a willingness to invest in execution…talent, capital, operations and distribution?
12. Is strategy translated into an action plan…scenario planning, timing and accountability?

In healthcare and insurance, like many other industries navigating today’s economic and political woes, the future belongs to those best able to manage in markets characterized by intense competitive rivalry, continuous regulatory disruption, and information empowered consumers.

Smart companies are raising their “opportunity index” by thinking about their business in ways that look very different from today’s enterprise. They are embracing a strategic planning process that openly challenges leadership across the organization in order to pinpoint future direction—make data-driven decisions, embrace customer centric thinking, adjust business assumptions, and act with deliberate speed.

 

A 2010 Recap

Healthcare, Marketing and Strategy

Healthcare’s Big Picture
Covering over 100 million people means Blue Cross Blue Shield has a pretty good perspective on healthcare in America. Their 8^th annual report, Healthcare Trends in America provides an excellent overview of where the sector stands, from the uninsured to benefit trends to improving access to care. It’s a 99 page resource filled with useful information about the “who, what, where and why” 17.3% of our Gross Domestic Product goes toward healthcare.

To access this report CLICK HERE.

Two Sides to Every Story
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) was signed into law on March 23, 2010. The debate continues to rage on as HHS moves ahead with releasing regulations, and those opposed to PPACA are looking to either stifle it through limiting appropriation funds, or hold-out for total repeal after possible administration change in the 2012 elections. In the meantime, insurance companies are adjusting to a new world order where mandated minimum loss ratios and pared-back risk selection are the norm.

For a year-by-year PPACA implementation timeline CLICK HERE.

Also, to find out how people really feel about HCR CLICK HERE.

Medicare’s Opportunity Index
The Medicare market opportunity has never been bigger. Today, 11.8 million beneficiaries are enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans, approximately 18 million have a Part D prescription drug plan, and another 9.5 million have a Medicare Supplement (Medigap) plan. And, when you add the 3.6 million baby boomers aging into Medicare every year for the foreseeable future, it’s easy to see why opportunity abounds and, why this niche requires a specialized approach to solution selling.

To find out more CLICK HERE.

Back to the Future With ACOs
While they seem like HMOs or EPOs of yesteryear, Accountable Care Organizations are being hyped as the solution that brings a “whole person” orientation to care delivery, coordinating care across all components of the patient’s clinical community and all stages of need–acute and chronic, wellness and prevention, and end-of-life. This patient-centered model aligns payment incentives (and disincentives) so payers, physicians and hospitals are all financially at-risk to meet quality and cost targets.

For a recent RWJ policy brief on ACOs CLICK HERE.

Also, for a health care executive perspective on ACOs CLICK HERE.

The Social Media Train Has Left the Station
Marketing has moved from brand monologue to customer dialogue. Low-engagement traditional marketing has been replaced by interactive social engagement. It’s the new marketology!  With 206 million Americans online an average of 18 hours every week, and 2.5 billion text messages sent every day, letting customers know what you stand for, why you are different, and what value you deliver is a challenge extraordinaire. With 550 million users, Facebook would be the third largest country in the world.

To access the social media White Paper CLICK HERE.

Also, to see a history timeline of the Internet CLICK HERE.

Failure to Prepare is Preparing to Fail
When transmogrification strikes a marketplace (aka, $h*! happens), decision paralysis or intolerance of new ideas means certain demise. Smart companies must anticipate change, make data-driven decisions, and react with deliberate speed. This means creating a roadmap for the future—critical success factors, possible obstacles, retooled business assumptions, and a sequence implementation plan. In fact, it pays off to take an entrepreneurial approach by putting together a ground-up business enterprise plan.

For a classic “how to” on writing a business plan CLICK HERE.

BEYOND REFORM: Ten Trends to Watch

A lot of attention is being focused on implementing health reform (PPACA) as new regulations are pushed out of HHS. There’s no doubt this is time well spent since the future belongs to those able to anticipate, adapt, and manage in a new world order of reformed markets.

PPACA is a disruptive event set to transform the industry. Transformation yields opportunity. The ability to capitalize on opportunity means getting out from under the weight of PPACA compliance and start to prepare for a future that looks a lot different. This means taking a broad view of health care trends likely to dominate over the next few years.

1. Health Improvement Preventive health care can save 2 million lives and $4 billion annually. With every employer seeking to reduce benefit costs, improving employee wellness is at the top of the list. And now, with employee premium contributions and deductible levels soaring, they are just as motivated to reduce their personal health expenditures.
   
   
2. Chronic Care Chronic medical conditions account for $3 out of every $4 spent on health care. Over 85% seniors and almost 50% of people ages 20-59 have at least one prescription. Dedicated management of chronic medical conditions is vital if there’s any hope in slowing growth of the country’s health care bill.
   
   
3. Risk Alignment Patient-centered medical home, where payers and providers collaborate in an accountable approach to care delivery is mentioned 19 times in PPACA. This new model, where everyone has skin in the game, calls for care structured around a primary care physician that is accessible, continuous, and family-centric.
   
   
4. Provider Capacity If half of health reform’s promise of access for 32 million people comes true, we’ll see millions of “health hungry” consumers with unmanaged chronic illness entering the medical delivery system…a system where 65 million Americans already live in community with shortage of primary care doctors, and where a caregiver shortage may top one million by 2020.
   
   
5. Decision Support Caught between changing benefit designs and an ever-broadening choice of “where, when and how” medicine is delivered, navigating health care is challenging every consumer. They’re desperately seeking guidance in structuring and budgeting their health coverage, as well credible information to sort through today’s clinical maze.
   
   
6. Value Chain Health reform’s new “rules of engagement” affect every aspect of a health insurer’s business, from compliance to product development to administration to sales. The ability of these individual activities to be effectively linked together, each adding value to the next, will be the difference between profitability and extinction.
   
   
7. Senior Market Our nation’s 78 million boomers have $2.5 trillion and control 75% of our country’s total household net worth. And, 3.6 million are turning 65 every year. Get ready; their tremendous buying power is grounded in a mentality of convenience, online purchasing habits and a trust in friends vs. brands.
   
   
8. Cyber Health With 206 million Americans online and 2.5 billion text messages sent every day, technology is extending healthcare’s reach into unimaginable direction – mobile diagnostics, physician e-consultations, 24/7 tele-caregiver access, monitoring medi-gadgets, and social networks facilitating consumer reviews and information exchange.
   
   
9. Engagement Marketing In an environment where low-engagement traditional marketing has been overtaken by “tradigital” social engagement customer interactions, telling customers why you are different and what value you deliver has changed forever. But one standard remains: marketing must deliver sales; sales must deliver profitable revenue, and; spend less for both.
   
   
10. Distribution Diversification Travel web portals (aka – exchanges) have 90+ million visitors annually. With 24 million people expected to purchase their health insurance on a Health Benefit Exchange, what’s the future of sales distribution? Most likely it’s a balanced mix of selling outlets such as field sales, telemarketing, online, retail outlets and worksite.

Health reform could push more than 100 health insurers with fewer than 200,000 members out of business. While dealing with health reform is a daunting task, maintaining the status quo or succumbing to decision paralysis means certain demise. It’s time to focus your organization on where it wants to be and design an enterprise roadmap for how to get there.