1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:01,839 Hello, everyone, and thank you for tuning in 2 00:00:01,839 --> 00:00:04,000 to the Becker's health care podcast. We are 3 00:00:04,000 --> 00:00:06,719 on-site at Becker's fall payer issues roundtable and 4 00:00:06,719 --> 00:00:08,559 are thrilled to be joined today by Russ 5 00:00:08,559 --> 00:00:09,059 VanGorp, 6 00:00:09,359 --> 00:00:12,639 associate managing director with Publicis Sapient. Russ, thank 7 00:00:12,639 --> 00:00:14,099 you so much for joining us today. 8 00:00:14,404 --> 00:00:16,404 Thanks, Brian. Great to be here. Great to 9 00:00:16,404 --> 00:00:19,204 have you. Can can you just to set 10 00:00:19,204 --> 00:00:20,964 the stage here, can you introduce yourself, share 11 00:00:20,964 --> 00:00:23,224 a few pertinent details about your your professional 12 00:00:23,285 --> 00:00:25,044 background and your work in health care? Yeah. 13 00:00:25,044 --> 00:00:27,364 Absolutely. I work at Publicis Sapient. I'm in 14 00:00:27,364 --> 00:00:29,800 our payer health strategy practice. And and what 15 00:00:29,800 --> 00:00:31,399 that means is we partner with our health 16 00:00:31,399 --> 00:00:33,500 care clients to make care more accessible, 17 00:00:33,880 --> 00:00:36,840 affordable, and consumer friendly in a digital world. 18 00:00:36,840 --> 00:00:38,859 And so a lot of the the transformation 19 00:00:39,000 --> 00:00:41,100 agenda around around digital innovation 20 00:00:41,640 --> 00:00:43,259 is where I where I play. 21 00:00:43,585 --> 00:00:46,545 Excellent. Well, great to have you here. Let's 22 00:00:46,545 --> 00:00:49,104 let's dig in. And, you know, we hear 23 00:00:49,104 --> 00:00:50,945 many leaders in the Paris space are really 24 00:00:50,945 --> 00:00:52,864 talking about and expecting health care to become 25 00:00:52,864 --> 00:00:54,085 more consumer centric, 26 00:00:54,465 --> 00:00:56,644 be it through virtual care or more customized 27 00:00:56,704 --> 00:00:57,524 care options. 28 00:00:58,170 --> 00:00:59,929 And the hope is these trends will help 29 00:00:59,929 --> 00:01:03,049 historically underserved communities as well sort of get 30 00:01:03,049 --> 00:01:04,810 get access to care and increase health care 31 00:01:04,810 --> 00:01:07,689 literacy as well, health care have an educational 32 00:01:07,689 --> 00:01:08,509 impact there. 33 00:01:08,810 --> 00:01:10,250 So can you talk a little bit about 34 00:01:10,250 --> 00:01:12,030 how you approach consumer engagement 35 00:01:12,605 --> 00:01:14,924 and and what trends you're seeing that that's 36 00:01:14,924 --> 00:01:16,784 making an impact for those folks today? 37 00:01:17,405 --> 00:01:19,085 Yeah. It's it's a good question. I mean, 38 00:01:19,085 --> 00:01:21,645 engaging members is tricky. Their their health is 39 00:01:21,645 --> 00:01:23,025 kinda constantly changing. 40 00:01:23,405 --> 00:01:25,984 Their coverage is also changing. They're switching plans. 41 00:01:26,200 --> 00:01:28,040 And this makes it even harder in underserved 42 00:01:28,040 --> 00:01:30,520 communities when, you know, basic needs kinda take 43 00:01:30,520 --> 00:01:33,079 priority. And so, you know, our research has 44 00:01:33,079 --> 00:01:35,319 shown that what matters most to people is 45 00:01:35,319 --> 00:01:37,400 is really their quality of life, and that's 46 00:01:37,400 --> 00:01:39,334 a personal choice and and being able to 47 00:01:39,334 --> 00:01:41,495 spend time with family, friends, and and really 48 00:01:41,495 --> 00:01:43,275 be healthy to do those types of things. 49 00:01:43,655 --> 00:01:45,734 And so engagement really has to focus on 50 00:01:45,734 --> 00:01:48,215 what the consumer cares about. And this starts 51 00:01:48,215 --> 00:01:50,819 even before someone really becomes a member, by 52 00:01:50,819 --> 00:01:52,519 guiding them through their plan options. 53 00:01:53,060 --> 00:01:54,899 Not just based on, you know, cost or 54 00:01:54,899 --> 00:01:56,899 network, but on things like, you know, their 55 00:01:56,899 --> 00:01:57,799 chronic conditions, 56 00:01:58,099 --> 00:02:00,340 aging with peace of mind, those things that 57 00:02:00,340 --> 00:02:01,619 allow them to kind of do the things 58 00:02:01,619 --> 00:02:03,859 that they wanna do. Right. Right. And it's 59 00:02:03,859 --> 00:02:06,615 different for everyone. Right? That's right. And, and 60 00:02:06,615 --> 00:02:08,094 I think there's a lot of new tools 61 00:02:08,094 --> 00:02:10,514 and and opportunities to to engage differently. 62 00:02:10,974 --> 00:02:13,294 I think plans, you know, historically have been 63 00:02:13,294 --> 00:02:15,215 a very business out approach to how they 64 00:02:15,215 --> 00:02:16,974 engage with their members. And I think there's 65 00:02:16,974 --> 00:02:18,814 really yeah. With generative AI and AI, I 66 00:02:18,814 --> 00:02:20,735 think there's really an opportunity to actually have 67 00:02:20,735 --> 00:02:21,395 a consumer 68 00:02:21,989 --> 00:02:24,469 in approach Okay. And actually hear, you know, 69 00:02:24,469 --> 00:02:26,469 from them around what their needs are and 70 00:02:26,469 --> 00:02:28,229 being able to to talk back to them 71 00:02:28,229 --> 00:02:29,909 in in the context of the plan and 72 00:02:29,909 --> 00:02:31,750 how they meet those needs. Yeah. It's some 73 00:02:31,750 --> 00:02:34,310 some excitement there around AI sort of to 74 00:02:34,310 --> 00:02:36,889 enhance communications and engagement in that way. 75 00:02:37,215 --> 00:02:38,735 I I did I did see a recent 76 00:02:38,735 --> 00:02:40,495 survey that did find though that many health 77 00:02:40,495 --> 00:02:42,355 care organizations might be overlooking 78 00:02:42,895 --> 00:02:44,754 key factors for successful implementation 79 00:02:45,135 --> 00:02:47,694 for for that technology, though. How how are 80 00:02:47,694 --> 00:02:50,575 payers specifically responding and and driving impact through 81 00:02:50,575 --> 00:02:52,915 technology here, and and and what are the 82 00:02:53,270 --> 00:02:55,669 those those things, those factors that folks shouldn't 83 00:02:55,669 --> 00:02:56,169 overlook? 84 00:02:57,110 --> 00:02:59,590 Yeah. I would say payers are making progress, 85 00:02:59,590 --> 00:03:01,030 but there's still a lot of work to 86 00:03:01,030 --> 00:03:02,789 be done. And a lot of this is 87 00:03:02,789 --> 00:03:04,870 driven, you know, the internal silos that make 88 00:03:04,870 --> 00:03:05,685 it really hard. 89 00:03:06,485 --> 00:03:08,485 And, you do utilizing data in a meaningful 90 00:03:08,485 --> 00:03:10,645 way to consumers is is still a big 91 00:03:10,645 --> 00:03:12,884 challenge. And so I would say it's all 92 00:03:12,884 --> 00:03:15,444 about prioritizing. You gotta start small. You gotta 93 00:03:15,444 --> 00:03:17,044 clean the right data. You gotta set up 94 00:03:17,044 --> 00:03:19,044 the tools with the proper governance and the 95 00:03:19,044 --> 00:03:19,944 human oversight. 96 00:03:20,540 --> 00:03:22,139 And over time, the goal is to move 97 00:03:22,139 --> 00:03:23,520 more to a direct to consumer 98 00:03:23,900 --> 00:03:24,400 activation. 99 00:03:24,939 --> 00:03:26,460 But we need to build the trust, and 100 00:03:26,460 --> 00:03:28,560 we need to validate the AI models first. 101 00:03:28,939 --> 00:03:30,620 And the power of Gen AI really lies 102 00:03:30,620 --> 00:03:32,540 in the collection of that first party data. 103 00:03:32,540 --> 00:03:34,125 Mhmm. And that's really gonna be a competitive 104 00:03:34,125 --> 00:03:36,685 advantage going forward is really understanding your consumers 105 00:03:36,685 --> 00:03:37,984 and be able to segment them 106 00:03:38,284 --> 00:03:39,884 really with how they talk and how they 107 00:03:39,965 --> 00:03:41,564 you know, the needs that they actually provide 108 00:03:41,564 --> 00:03:42,064 you, 109 00:03:42,604 --> 00:03:44,764 directly, you know, through a digital channel. Yeah. 110 00:03:44,764 --> 00:03:46,844 The data is really everything. Isn't it? Like, 111 00:03:46,844 --> 00:03:48,699 it it's it's not gonna be the the 112 00:03:48,699 --> 00:03:50,379 technology is not gonna be as effective if 113 00:03:50,379 --> 00:03:52,139 you don't got the right data. Right? Truly 114 00:03:52,139 --> 00:03:53,900 is. And I think the notion of, you 115 00:03:53,900 --> 00:03:55,580 know, if you're able to we're actually working 116 00:03:55,580 --> 00:03:57,340 with some of our clients right now around 117 00:03:57,340 --> 00:03:59,120 AI driven search and conversational 118 00:03:59,500 --> 00:04:00,800 AI type chat tools. 119 00:04:01,099 --> 00:04:02,620 Still still yet a lot of work to 120 00:04:02,620 --> 00:04:04,584 be done on those. But the idea of 121 00:04:04,584 --> 00:04:06,104 being able to have a a member or 122 00:04:06,104 --> 00:04:07,705 a prospect to be able to talk about 123 00:04:07,705 --> 00:04:09,625 their health and their in their own language 124 00:04:09,625 --> 00:04:11,384 and their own words and be able to 125 00:04:11,384 --> 00:04:13,864 capture that first party data and be able 126 00:04:13,864 --> 00:04:15,465 to structure that in a way that you 127 00:04:15,465 --> 00:04:17,259 can actually use it throughout the plan year. 128 00:04:17,259 --> 00:04:19,180 And and you can remind them if they 129 00:04:19,180 --> 00:04:21,339 talked about an elective procedure during the shopping 130 00:04:21,339 --> 00:04:23,180 experience. Mhmm. You can bring that up during 131 00:04:23,180 --> 00:04:25,019 the plan year and personalized engagement in a 132 00:04:25,019 --> 00:04:27,040 way that actually meets them with their needs. 133 00:04:27,419 --> 00:04:29,500 That's that's mind blowing difference in the payer 134 00:04:29,500 --> 00:04:32,084 landscape. Yeah. And and when you when you 135 00:04:32,084 --> 00:04:35,384 think about that specific, that personalized consumer engagement, 136 00:04:36,164 --> 00:04:38,024 are other industries doing this better, 137 00:04:38,485 --> 00:04:40,245 that that in health care? And I think 138 00:04:40,245 --> 00:04:42,104 I I kinda know the answer to that. 139 00:04:42,245 --> 00:04:44,324 But but wanna get your take in terms 140 00:04:44,324 --> 00:04:45,064 of what 141 00:04:45,579 --> 00:04:47,660 lessons can be learned from other industries who 142 00:04:47,660 --> 00:04:48,240 would really 143 00:04:48,620 --> 00:04:50,699 sort of nailed this in a way that 144 00:04:50,699 --> 00:04:52,720 that health care hasn't yet. Yeah. Absolutely. 145 00:04:53,339 --> 00:04:55,100 That proves the statement. We actually work with 146 00:04:55,100 --> 00:04:57,019 a lot of the the largest consumer and 147 00:04:57,019 --> 00:04:59,774 retail brands out there. One example is, you 148 00:04:59,774 --> 00:05:01,694 know, we we partner with Delta in driving 149 00:05:01,694 --> 00:05:02,754 a lot of their personalization, 150 00:05:03,855 --> 00:05:06,415 on all of their channels. And, not necessarily 151 00:05:06,415 --> 00:05:08,415 something we worked on, but what I really 152 00:05:08,495 --> 00:05:10,334 you know, one example at Delta is, you 153 00:05:10,334 --> 00:05:12,894 know, their year end review type statement that 154 00:05:12,894 --> 00:05:15,153 actually provides you some context around what you 155 00:05:15,153 --> 00:05:15,586 did use that year and the value of 156 00:05:15,586 --> 00:05:16,959 that. I think a lot of these principles 157 00:05:16,959 --> 00:05:18,599 can be applied in the health care setting, 158 00:05:18,599 --> 00:05:19,139 you know, 159 00:05:19,439 --> 00:05:21,439 to actually understand, you know, be proactive, be 160 00:05:21,439 --> 00:05:23,139 helpful, provide context as 161 00:05:26,415 --> 00:05:28,335 to, you know, those those things that they 162 00:05:28,335 --> 00:05:30,335 could utilize to improve their health. You know, 163 00:05:30,335 --> 00:05:31,395 I think a lot of that 164 00:05:31,774 --> 00:05:33,774 in consumer and retail is a bit easier 165 00:05:33,774 --> 00:05:35,714 because the data is a little bit cleaner. 166 00:05:36,095 --> 00:05:37,774 Back to the data again. But I think, 167 00:05:37,774 --> 00:05:39,694 you know, as you start small and identify 168 00:05:39,694 --> 00:05:41,889 what those use cases are, you can you 169 00:05:41,889 --> 00:05:44,050 can clean that data and and actually provide 170 00:05:44,050 --> 00:05:46,289 some of those experiences that relate to kinda 171 00:05:46,289 --> 00:05:49,589 game change the the, overall member engagement experience. 172 00:05:49,810 --> 00:05:51,329 Yeah. And and to be fair to health 173 00:05:51,329 --> 00:05:53,970 care, right, health care's hard. Healthier's health care's 174 00:05:53,970 --> 00:05:55,125 complicated. So, 175 00:05:56,004 --> 00:05:57,524 coming to it with a clean set of 176 00:05:57,524 --> 00:05:58,964 data is a little bit more challenging than 177 00:05:58,964 --> 00:06:01,524 in other industries. Right? Right. That's right. So, 178 00:06:02,004 --> 00:06:04,264 at at SAP, you focus on data interoperability 179 00:06:04,725 --> 00:06:07,045 and enhancing the experience for for consumers and 180 00:06:07,045 --> 00:06:08,105 clinicians alike. 181 00:06:08,419 --> 00:06:10,019 How is your approach making a difference? 182 00:06:10,579 --> 00:06:12,980 And what should what can other leaders, I 183 00:06:12,980 --> 00:06:15,160 guess, listening to this learn from your approach? 184 00:06:15,620 --> 00:06:17,779 Yeah. I I where we, start with our 185 00:06:17,779 --> 00:06:18,660 clients is, 186 00:06:19,220 --> 00:06:21,404 largely with the business. And we we help 187 00:06:21,404 --> 00:06:23,485 them understand what is the consumer and the 188 00:06:23,485 --> 00:06:25,585 business value that they wanna drive 189 00:06:26,045 --> 00:06:28,125 and started working backward from that. And so 190 00:06:28,125 --> 00:06:31,264 we use integrated kinda capability teams across strategy, 191 00:06:31,324 --> 00:06:32,944 product, experience, engineering 192 00:06:33,324 --> 00:06:34,464 in a pod formation 193 00:06:34,925 --> 00:06:36,540 to be able to take that use case 194 00:06:36,540 --> 00:06:37,520 or that value 195 00:06:37,899 --> 00:06:40,139 pool, unpack it, and actually look at, you 196 00:06:40,139 --> 00:06:42,060 know, the data and the technology that are 197 00:06:42,060 --> 00:06:44,319 essential to that to that engagement strategy. 198 00:06:44,779 --> 00:06:47,020 And it's it's not looking at trying to, 199 00:06:47,020 --> 00:06:48,814 you know, grab all the data and make 200 00:06:48,814 --> 00:06:49,555 it all interoperable. 201 00:06:50,175 --> 00:06:52,175 It's really focusing on what is that consumer 202 00:06:52,175 --> 00:06:54,175 and business value they wanna drive, and what 203 00:06:54,175 --> 00:06:56,435 is the relevant data that's attached to that. 204 00:06:56,735 --> 00:06:59,055 Yeah. Really having a at the onset, know 205 00:06:59,055 --> 00:07:00,574 where you wanna be, know where the finish 206 00:07:00,574 --> 00:07:02,009 line is. Exactly. Yeah. 207 00:07:02,650 --> 00:07:04,330 Anything else you'd like to share with with 208 00:07:04,330 --> 00:07:05,930 listeners that we didn't touch on or anything 209 00:07:05,930 --> 00:07:07,810 you wanna reemphasize as well? I think this 210 00:07:07,930 --> 00:07:09,770 the only thing is, you know, member engagement 211 00:07:09,770 --> 00:07:12,270 is an ongoing journey. It's never really done. 212 00:07:12,650 --> 00:07:14,089 I think the key is to really start 213 00:07:14,089 --> 00:07:16,089 somewhere and celebrate, you know, the wins along 214 00:07:16,089 --> 00:07:17,629 the way, track performance, 215 00:07:18,064 --> 00:07:19,764 baseline, and measure improvement. 216 00:07:20,144 --> 00:07:22,224 Yep. Excellent. Well, Russ, it's been a pleasure 217 00:07:22,224 --> 00:07:24,004 speaking with you today. Thank you. 218 00:07:24,384 --> 00:07:26,144 Well, I thank Russ again for taking the 219 00:07:26,144 --> 00:07:27,664 time to come on the podcast, and I 220 00:07:27,664 --> 00:07:31,028 wanna thank Publicis Sapient for sponsoring today's content. 221 00:07:31,248 --> 00:07:33,168 To our listeners, thank you for joining us, 222 00:07:33,168 --> 00:07:34,608 and please be sure to check out other 223 00:07:34,608 --> 00:07:36,768 Becker's podcasts. Have a wonderful rest of your 224 00:07:36,768 --> 00:07:37,268 day.