You’ve Got a Nurse Award-Winning Program at McLaren Health Plan Helps Michigan Workers Keep Their Health on Track
11/05/2009
McLaren Health Plan’s (MHP) You’ve Got a Nurse program partners with commercial employers to combine member outreach and worksite education. It also assures McLaren employees that their patients and customers can receive help outside of the hospital with access to preventive services, education on the use of medications, and advice for healthy lifestyle changes.
Personal Attention
Under the new program, MHP commercial members are automatically assigned a nurse and customer service specialist and receive a welcome call within the first 30 days of enrollment. They are contacted prior to enrollment if they or a family member has an existing medical condition, which helps ensure a smooth transition to the plan, says Beth Caughlin, vice president of health services.
The immediate contact and personalized assistance helps reduce the anxiety many people feel when they switch health plans, says Caughlin. New members often are surprised when they learn they can call a 24-hour nurse phone line or when they see a McLaren representative come to their office.
“They are skeptical and worried about what’s going to happen when they change plans,” Caughlin says. “If we are proactive, that helps alleviate their concerns. That really is the main goal: to get the employee comfortable with the change, knowing that someone is going to take care of them.”
Satisfied Customers
The program, whose staff includes a full-time pharmacist, provides services to more than 8,000 members in roughly 400 businesses. So far, You’ve Got a Nurse has resulted in a 98 percent member renewal rate for MHP and has helped to hold rate increases to 13 percent below the industry average. In addition, pharmacy costs are 26 percent lower than the average for commercial HMOs.
MHP has won a Pinnacle Award for Best Practices from the Michigan Association of Health Plans for six straight years, and customer response has been exceptional, Caughlin says. Nearly 90 percent of customers say they would recommend MHP to family and friends, and all of the health plan’s group administrators say they were “astonished” at the degree of worksite visibility.
For McLaren employees, it’s helpful to know that if they have a patient or customer with medical issues or questions about their health plan, it can be resolved right away, Caughlin says. They may even know a family member or friend who has a business that could use the program.
“People need this personal touch. It can’t be an automated service,” Caughlin says. “It needs to be a face they know and a person they can call.”
McLaren Health Plan’s (MHP) You’ve Got a Nurse program partners with commercial employers to combine member outreach and worksite education. It also assures McLaren employees that their patients and customers can receive help outside of the hospital with access to preventive services, education on the use of medications, and advice for healthy lifestyle changes.
Satisfied Customers
