1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:02,319 Hi, everyone. This is Lucas Voss with Becker's 2 00:00:02,319 --> 00:00:04,480 Healthcare. Thanks so much for tuning in to 3 00:00:04,480 --> 00:00:06,719 the Becker's Healthcare podcast series. It's great to 4 00:00:06,719 --> 00:00:09,119 have you. I'm excited to welcome Kendall Walcott 5 00:00:09,119 --> 00:00:11,919 and Steve Provence to the podcast. Kendall is 6 00:00:11,919 --> 00:00:13,679 the founder and CEO of Me plus You 7 00:00:13,679 --> 00:00:16,594 Care and former worldwide product head of interactive 8 00:00:16,594 --> 00:00:18,195 media at a small shop you might have 9 00:00:18,195 --> 00:00:20,835 heard of, the Walt Disney Company. Kendall founded 10 00:00:20,835 --> 00:00:22,994 Me plus You Care in 2015 after a 11 00:00:22,994 --> 00:00:25,875 deeply personal experience supporting a loved one through 12 00:00:25,875 --> 00:00:27,734 cancer care where he saw firsthand 13 00:00:28,510 --> 00:00:31,550 the gaps, fragmentation, and challenges patients and families 14 00:00:31,550 --> 00:00:34,109 face. What started as a personal mission, however, 15 00:00:34,109 --> 00:00:36,510 to create a more human centered connected approach 16 00:00:36,510 --> 00:00:38,829 to care has since scaled to impact more 17 00:00:38,829 --> 00:00:40,530 than 30,000,000 18 00:00:40,590 --> 00:00:41,090 members 19 00:00:41,414 --> 00:00:42,155 and caregivers. 20 00:00:42,774 --> 00:00:44,454 Steve, on the other hand, brings decades of 21 00:00:44,454 --> 00:00:46,454 health care leadership experience with him with a 22 00:00:46,454 --> 00:00:49,335 background spanning hospital operations, large scale health system 23 00:00:49,335 --> 00:00:52,394 management, including leadership roles at Kaiser Permanente, Providence 24 00:00:52,854 --> 00:00:55,239 Healthcare Network, and Amida Health. He has led 25 00:00:55,239 --> 00:00:59,579 organizations through operational transformation, performance improvement, expanded access 26 00:00:59,640 --> 00:01:02,600 to care. He's also the former CEO of 27 00:01:02,600 --> 00:01:04,280 Buckeye Health Plan and oversaw one of the 28 00:01:04,280 --> 00:01:07,775 state's largest Medicaid health plans focused on improving 29 00:01:07,775 --> 00:01:10,754 outcomes for vulnerable populations and advancing innovative 30 00:01:11,135 --> 00:01:13,534 community based care models. I'm so very excited 31 00:01:13,534 --> 00:01:15,694 to have you both on the podcast. Kendall 32 00:01:15,694 --> 00:01:16,915 and Steve, welcome. 33 00:01:17,855 --> 00:01:20,194 Thank you. We really appreciate it. That's exciting 34 00:01:20,254 --> 00:01:21,855 times in health care these days, and we're 35 00:01:21,855 --> 00:01:24,369 hoping to try and help help folks, learn 36 00:01:24,369 --> 00:01:25,810 how to navigate through some of the biggest 37 00:01:25,810 --> 00:01:28,069 challenges, that everyone's facing right now. 38 00:01:28,689 --> 00:01:30,689 Yeah. Thanks as well. Excited to have the 39 00:01:30,689 --> 00:01:31,189 conversation 40 00:01:31,569 --> 00:01:32,069 today. 41 00:01:32,530 --> 00:01:33,030 Yeah. 42 00:01:33,729 --> 00:01:36,530 Kendall, as you've outlined, there's plenty to talk 43 00:01:36,530 --> 00:01:39,575 about right now. HR one specifically 44 00:01:40,674 --> 00:01:42,935 introduces some major shifts to Medicaid, 45 00:01:43,395 --> 00:01:46,055 including work requirements and and more frequent eligibility 46 00:01:46,194 --> 00:01:46,694 redeterminations. 47 00:01:48,435 --> 00:01:51,599 While many plants don't have final guidance yet 48 00:01:51,599 --> 00:01:54,159 from CMS and certainly their states as well 49 00:01:54,159 --> 00:01:54,659 here, 50 00:01:55,520 --> 00:01:57,859 what should plants be doing now 51 00:01:58,239 --> 00:02:00,900 in order to prevent the most significant consequences 52 00:02:01,120 --> 00:02:01,620 specifically 53 00:02:02,319 --> 00:02:05,144 for vulnerable populations if the system just isn't 54 00:02:05,224 --> 00:02:06,905 isn't prepared at all? Kendall, we'll we'll start 55 00:02:06,905 --> 00:02:08,985 off with you. Yeah. I'll I'll say a 56 00:02:08,985 --> 00:02:11,324 bit, but I I think getting Steve's perspective 57 00:02:11,384 --> 00:02:13,544 as the CEO of of one of those 58 00:02:13,544 --> 00:02:15,705 plans, you know, big time, I think, 59 00:02:16,104 --> 00:02:17,465 is it really speaks to the heart of 60 00:02:17,465 --> 00:02:18,824 it. But I'll I'll just start it off 61 00:02:18,824 --> 00:02:19,564 by saying 62 00:02:20,040 --> 00:02:22,360 people plans think they can't do something right 63 00:02:22,360 --> 00:02:24,280 now because they're saying, oh, we're waiting. And 64 00:02:24,280 --> 00:02:26,360 the answer is there is something to be 65 00:02:26,360 --> 00:02:28,360 done right now, and it's actually critical that 66 00:02:28,360 --> 00:02:30,040 you do it now. I think a lot 67 00:02:30,040 --> 00:02:31,500 of folks saw with the Obamacare 68 00:02:32,844 --> 00:02:35,644 issues, the ACA issues that happened Christmas to 69 00:02:35,644 --> 00:02:36,144 January. 70 00:02:36,444 --> 00:02:38,685 The drop off was huge. Right? People have 71 00:02:38,685 --> 00:02:40,525 lost billions of dollars. Millions of people have 72 00:02:40,525 --> 00:02:42,764 lost lost their care. We don't want that 73 00:02:42,764 --> 00:02:44,604 to happen again, I think, is the is 74 00:02:44,604 --> 00:02:46,930 the rallying cry for the industry right this 75 00:02:46,930 --> 00:02:48,449 second. So we believe we have a way 76 00:02:48,449 --> 00:02:50,209 to address that, but I think Steve ought 77 00:02:50,209 --> 00:02:52,289 to set the table on on how an 78 00:02:52,289 --> 00:02:54,689 executive has to think about this today. Yeah. 79 00:02:54,689 --> 00:02:56,689 Absolutely, Steve. Go ahead. Yeah. Kendall, 80 00:02:57,009 --> 00:02:59,125 I would agree on that. In my opinion, 81 00:02:59,125 --> 00:03:01,284 the biggest mistake, right now would be waiting 82 00:03:01,284 --> 00:03:02,424 for the perfect guidance. 83 00:03:02,805 --> 00:03:04,324 By the time you get it, it's gonna 84 00:03:04,324 --> 00:03:05,224 be too late. 85 00:03:05,525 --> 00:03:07,705 There's really probably a couple things plans, 86 00:03:08,805 --> 00:03:10,745 should be doing or thinking about, 87 00:03:11,700 --> 00:03:14,020 moving into this is first, be honest about 88 00:03:14,020 --> 00:03:17,240 who's at risk. Not not medically, but administratively. 89 00:03:18,260 --> 00:03:19,860 And this is something Kendall was, 90 00:03:20,420 --> 00:03:21,319 able to help, 91 00:03:22,020 --> 00:03:23,319 out in a big way. 92 00:03:24,020 --> 00:03:27,139 Who's going to lose that coverage because they 93 00:03:27,139 --> 00:03:29,134 missed the form? They didn't get a letter, 94 00:03:29,435 --> 00:03:31,675 or they just didn't understand what was being 95 00:03:31,675 --> 00:03:34,074 asked of them. And then probably the second 96 00:03:34,074 --> 00:03:36,634 thing is fix your data. Do you have 97 00:03:36,634 --> 00:03:37,775 the right, demographics? 98 00:03:38,074 --> 00:03:40,574 Phone, text, email, language preferences. 99 00:03:41,800 --> 00:03:44,060 I had terrible demographic information, 100 00:03:44,520 --> 00:03:46,680 and Kendall actually was able to come in 101 00:03:46,680 --> 00:03:48,139 and help improve, 102 00:03:48,599 --> 00:03:50,599 the likelihood I would get a hold of 103 00:03:50,599 --> 00:03:51,260 a member, 104 00:03:51,719 --> 00:03:53,639 which is the starting point. Because if you 105 00:03:53,639 --> 00:03:55,879 can't get a hold of him, everything else 106 00:03:55,879 --> 00:03:56,780 breaks apart. 107 00:03:58,014 --> 00:03:59,935 And as we're moving into this, you have 108 00:03:59,935 --> 00:04:01,394 to assume confusion, 109 00:04:02,174 --> 00:04:04,814 assume volume spikes, assume members are going to 110 00:04:04,814 --> 00:04:05,555 be overwhelmed. 111 00:04:06,495 --> 00:04:09,134 Build and test for that now because at 112 00:04:09,134 --> 00:04:11,610 the end of the day, the biggest risk 113 00:04:11,610 --> 00:04:13,389 isn't going to be policy. 114 00:04:13,770 --> 00:04:16,889 It's eligible people losing coverage because the system's 115 00:04:16,889 --> 00:04:18,509 frankly just too hard to navigate. 116 00:04:19,370 --> 00:04:21,790 Now looking back, speaking of navigation or navigating, 117 00:04:22,170 --> 00:04:24,009 looking back at some of those post public 118 00:04:24,009 --> 00:04:25,310 health emergency redeterminations. 119 00:04:25,769 --> 00:04:28,564 Right? Many health plans face to this unprecedented 120 00:04:28,705 --> 00:04:30,324 operational and human challenge, 121 00:04:30,944 --> 00:04:34,085 probably continue to face it. From a leadership 122 00:04:34,305 --> 00:04:37,985 standpoint, Steve, what did that moment reveal and 123 00:04:37,985 --> 00:04:40,865 show us about where Medicaid infrastructure is most 124 00:04:40,865 --> 00:04:42,949 fragile and where it needs to evolve? 125 00:04:43,889 --> 00:04:45,410 Well, so it's probably a little bit of 126 00:04:45,410 --> 00:04:47,889 what I was just saying. The unwinding really 127 00:04:47,889 --> 00:04:48,389 showed 128 00:04:48,769 --> 00:04:51,349 us that Medicaid isn't fragile clinically, 129 00:04:51,889 --> 00:04:53,269 it's fragile administratively. 130 00:04:54,289 --> 00:04:56,529 We still rely way too much on the 131 00:04:56,529 --> 00:05:00,235 ideal that someone gets a notice, understands it, 132 00:05:00,235 --> 00:05:02,095 trust it, and responds correctly, 133 00:05:02,475 --> 00:05:04,634 usually within a very tight window or time 134 00:05:04,634 --> 00:05:07,115 frame. And it's just not how real life 135 00:05:07,115 --> 00:05:07,514 works, 136 00:05:08,475 --> 00:05:10,175 for a lot of our Medicaid members. 137 00:05:10,540 --> 00:05:12,800 It also exposed how disconnected 138 00:05:13,339 --> 00:05:17,680 everything was between state systems, plans, providers, vendors. 139 00:05:19,580 --> 00:05:20,959 They're not always getting 140 00:05:21,259 --> 00:05:24,300 the same picture across all these entities, and 141 00:05:24,300 --> 00:05:25,920 it's just causing confusion. 142 00:05:26,884 --> 00:05:29,285 My opinion, we're still running a system that 143 00:05:29,285 --> 00:05:30,745 expects perfect behavior, 144 00:05:31,685 --> 00:05:35,444 from people living very imperfect lives. And that's 145 00:05:35,444 --> 00:05:35,944 a 146 00:05:36,404 --> 00:05:38,004 we really have to have a big shift, 147 00:05:38,645 --> 00:05:40,504 moving the system from a transactional 148 00:05:40,805 --> 00:05:41,305 model 149 00:05:41,849 --> 00:05:44,029 to a continuous engagement model, 150 00:05:44,729 --> 00:05:46,969 where we build trust over time with our 151 00:05:46,969 --> 00:05:49,789 members. And, frankly, the partnership with MeYou 152 00:05:50,490 --> 00:05:54,274 really helped Buckeye Health Plan achieve that consistent 153 00:05:54,274 --> 00:05:56,834 engagement with our members and our providers and 154 00:05:56,834 --> 00:05:57,495 our community 155 00:05:58,115 --> 00:05:58,615 members. 156 00:05:59,475 --> 00:06:00,855 From a leadership standpoint, 157 00:06:01,555 --> 00:06:03,014 visibility is everything. 158 00:06:03,314 --> 00:06:05,794 If you can't see where people are falling 159 00:06:05,794 --> 00:06:08,189 off early, you can't fix it. Kendall, 160 00:06:08,810 --> 00:06:11,529 kinda like, maybe, where you could speak into 161 00:06:11,529 --> 00:06:12,889 some of the things you were able to 162 00:06:12,889 --> 00:06:14,649 do to help me here. Yeah. No. I 163 00:06:14,649 --> 00:06:15,949 think it's really important 164 00:06:16,410 --> 00:06:18,029 to to have a sort of a mind 165 00:06:18,169 --> 00:06:20,110 change or shift, if you will, 166 00:06:20,634 --> 00:06:21,995 to think that, well, I can't get to 167 00:06:21,995 --> 00:06:24,714 everybody perfectly today, whatever. That doesn't mean you 168 00:06:24,714 --> 00:06:26,074 still can't get to a heck of a 169 00:06:26,074 --> 00:06:29,055 lot of people. And and given digital technology, 170 00:06:30,394 --> 00:06:32,714 led by the right minds, there's actually a 171 00:06:32,714 --> 00:06:34,949 tremendous amount that we've proven we can do, 172 00:06:34,949 --> 00:06:38,310 but also, is just possible, frankly. SMS. Right? 173 00:06:38,310 --> 00:06:40,230 You're talking about people. Everybody has a phone. 174 00:06:40,230 --> 00:06:42,870 I don't care what economic strata, what cultural 175 00:06:42,870 --> 00:06:45,189 strata, what, you know, whatever issue you're dealing 176 00:06:45,189 --> 00:06:47,189 with. You've got access to a mobile phone 177 00:06:47,189 --> 00:06:49,754 almost invariably across the country today. So so 178 00:06:49,754 --> 00:06:52,415 that's number one. Number two is the ability, 179 00:06:53,115 --> 00:06:55,115 to find those numbers. One thing we helped 180 00:06:55,115 --> 00:06:57,115 Steve with and we've helped other plans with 181 00:06:57,115 --> 00:06:58,875 is we actually have a an ability through 182 00:06:58,875 --> 00:06:59,375 partnerships 183 00:06:59,834 --> 00:07:01,514 to go and find a mobile phone number 184 00:07:01,514 --> 00:07:03,535 for someone that they don't have a connectivity 185 00:07:03,914 --> 00:07:06,099 with at all. And we literally turned out 186 00:07:06,099 --> 00:07:07,060 66% 187 00:07:07,060 --> 00:07:09,060 from zero. So we went and these were 188 00:07:09,060 --> 00:07:11,779 difficult, what are called, duals populations. Right? Both 189 00:07:11,779 --> 00:07:12,680 Medicare and Medicaid. 190 00:07:13,300 --> 00:07:15,319 Very hard to find, very hard to manage. 191 00:07:15,699 --> 00:07:18,099 And the other really important piece was we 192 00:07:18,099 --> 00:07:19,560 reached people in 80 languages. 193 00:07:20,345 --> 00:07:21,865 Right? And you're talk you I mean, I 194 00:07:21,865 --> 00:07:22,764 live in California. 195 00:07:23,384 --> 00:07:26,185 Southern California on a daily basis, over 26 196 00:07:26,185 --> 00:07:28,024 languages are used by the health plans are 197 00:07:28,024 --> 00:07:30,024 encountered by the health plans. This is by 198 00:07:30,024 --> 00:07:31,544 the way, it's also true in Ohio. It's 199 00:07:31,544 --> 00:07:33,164 also true we found it in Tennessee. 200 00:07:33,470 --> 00:07:35,230 I mean, it really is across the country 201 00:07:35,230 --> 00:07:37,650 now. You're dealing with enormous numbers of variability 202 00:07:37,710 --> 00:07:40,689 in terms of language. So the fundamental premise 203 00:07:40,830 --> 00:07:43,310 that I took from both Disney, but also 204 00:07:43,310 --> 00:07:45,470 from my experience in Steve, you're talking about 205 00:07:45,470 --> 00:07:47,330 the complexity of the ecosystem, 206 00:07:47,995 --> 00:07:50,254 was to meet people where they are. 207 00:07:50,714 --> 00:07:52,555 Don't expect them to come to you. Don't 208 00:07:52,555 --> 00:07:54,414 expect them to go log in to something, 209 00:07:54,475 --> 00:07:56,634 to come to your website. People have lots 210 00:07:56,634 --> 00:07:58,794 of billions of dollars of websites. People don't 211 00:07:58,794 --> 00:08:00,495 use them. We're down to 7% 212 00:08:00,839 --> 00:08:02,920 less access to websites. You gotta go meet 213 00:08:02,920 --> 00:08:04,199 them where they are, and that's how we 214 00:08:04,199 --> 00:08:06,360 built the company. So the ability to actually 215 00:08:06,360 --> 00:08:07,339 put education, 216 00:08:07,800 --> 00:08:11,080 put thinking, put just an awareness of this 217 00:08:11,080 --> 00:08:12,220 thing's gonna happen 218 00:08:12,520 --> 00:08:14,779 in the hands of members through SMS, 219 00:08:15,095 --> 00:08:17,915 through secure SMS, or PHI protected SMS. 220 00:08:18,375 --> 00:08:19,194 That's fundamental. 221 00:08:19,655 --> 00:08:22,134 The other real trick that everybody could do 222 00:08:22,134 --> 00:08:25,275 right now is there are other things besides 223 00:08:25,574 --> 00:08:26,074 employment 224 00:08:26,535 --> 00:08:29,689 that count towards the HR one eighty hours 225 00:08:29,689 --> 00:08:31,389 a month work eligibility. 226 00:08:32,009 --> 00:08:33,389 Their training programs, 227 00:08:33,929 --> 00:08:34,429 school, 228 00:08:34,730 --> 00:08:38,009 even there's some volunteer programs that count towards 229 00:08:38,009 --> 00:08:40,090 those eighty hours. So what we're working with 230 00:08:40,090 --> 00:08:42,570 health plans on is to literally send an 231 00:08:42,570 --> 00:08:43,070 SMS 232 00:08:43,424 --> 00:08:45,105 and take them through a little click through, 233 00:08:45,105 --> 00:08:48,325 just a simple click, directly to a local 234 00:08:48,705 --> 00:08:51,904 work training program, somebody who's vetted, somebody who's 235 00:08:51,904 --> 00:08:54,004 already gone through the system and being approved, 236 00:08:54,065 --> 00:08:56,304 where they literally can sign up and actually 237 00:08:56,304 --> 00:08:57,985 start to build that eighty hours. They can 238 00:08:57,985 --> 00:09:00,259 do that today. You wait till December 239 00:09:00,639 --> 00:09:03,199 way too late. So both the people need 240 00:09:03,199 --> 00:09:04,259 to know about this. 241 00:09:04,720 --> 00:09:06,799 Consumers need to know about this, but also 242 00:09:06,799 --> 00:09:08,879 plans need to know about this and take 243 00:09:08,879 --> 00:09:09,940 action today, 244 00:09:10,320 --> 00:09:11,294 not in July. 245 00:09:13,134 --> 00:09:15,454 Steve, how do we then actually do this? 246 00:09:15,454 --> 00:09:17,214 Right? This requires a lot more than just 247 00:09:17,214 --> 00:09:17,714 implementing, 248 00:09:18,414 --> 00:09:20,495 certain measures. It it requires a lot of 249 00:09:20,495 --> 00:09:22,975 trust. It requires communication. It requires engagement. There's 250 00:09:22,975 --> 00:09:24,174 a lot of levers that need to be 251 00:09:24,174 --> 00:09:26,789 pulled for this to work. Right? So what 252 00:09:26,789 --> 00:09:27,850 does it then truly 253 00:09:28,309 --> 00:09:30,389 take to build that trust, to be able 254 00:09:30,389 --> 00:09:32,389 to say, okay, we are doing the best 255 00:09:32,389 --> 00:09:33,990 we can to reach you specifically when it 256 00:09:33,990 --> 00:09:35,509 comes to we don't have the data. We 257 00:09:35,509 --> 00:09:36,970 we need better data, etcetera. 258 00:09:37,350 --> 00:09:38,570 How do we do this? 259 00:09:39,164 --> 00:09:41,804 Yeah. Well, to Kendall's point, trust does not 260 00:09:41,804 --> 00:09:43,345 occur with a single campaign. 261 00:09:43,964 --> 00:09:46,625 It's the result of consistent member experiences. 262 00:09:47,485 --> 00:09:49,325 A promise made, a promise kept. 263 00:09:50,044 --> 00:09:52,684 It's when the message is clear, it's in 264 00:09:52,684 --> 00:09:54,544 your language, it matches 265 00:09:54,980 --> 00:09:57,860 what your doctor's office told you. And when 266 00:09:57,860 --> 00:10:00,200 you ask for help, you actually get help. 267 00:10:00,899 --> 00:10:02,420 If you reach out, you need to get 268 00:10:02,420 --> 00:10:03,080 a response. 269 00:10:03,620 --> 00:10:06,200 And Medicaid trust often sits in the community, 270 00:10:06,660 --> 00:10:09,174 not just with the plan. So you have 271 00:10:09,174 --> 00:10:11,194 to work through the people, through the organizations 272 00:10:11,654 --> 00:10:13,274 that members already trust. 273 00:10:14,534 --> 00:10:16,615 Like Ken Kendall was talking about with some 274 00:10:16,615 --> 00:10:19,914 of the work programs out there. This becomes 275 00:10:20,054 --> 00:10:21,754 even more important with 276 00:10:22,059 --> 00:10:24,559 work requirements that people trust the system, 277 00:10:25,100 --> 00:10:28,220 they're more likely to respond, report, or stay 278 00:10:28,220 --> 00:10:31,259 engaged with you. When trust goes up, compliance 279 00:10:31,259 --> 00:10:34,059 goes up. When trust breaks down, coverage breaks 280 00:10:34,059 --> 00:10:34,559 down. 281 00:10:35,365 --> 00:10:37,125 And one of the fundamental things, again, this 282 00:10:37,125 --> 00:10:39,304 comes out of the Disney experience is 283 00:10:40,245 --> 00:10:42,585 you have to deliver something of value 284 00:10:42,965 --> 00:10:43,945 each time. 285 00:10:44,325 --> 00:10:46,085 I used to argue with folks who said, 286 00:10:46,085 --> 00:10:47,524 well, I just wanna send out a message 287 00:10:47,524 --> 00:10:49,949 from the chief medical officer. I said, because 288 00:10:49,949 --> 00:10:52,429 listening to a rich white doctor in his 289 00:10:52,429 --> 00:10:54,589 fifties who went to Harvard is gonna work 290 00:10:54,589 --> 00:10:56,449 in Columbus, Ohio. 291 00:10:57,309 --> 00:10:59,389 You know? Have we have we really thought 292 00:10:59,389 --> 00:11:01,569 this through? You know? And instead, 293 00:11:01,870 --> 00:11:04,365 you work through the no. No. Small messages 294 00:11:04,745 --> 00:11:05,944 of value. You know, do you need to 295 00:11:05,944 --> 00:11:08,105 know how to deal with diabetic foot pain 296 00:11:08,105 --> 00:11:10,024 because your mom's got it? That's all the 297 00:11:10,024 --> 00:11:11,384 member wants to know is what can I 298 00:11:11,384 --> 00:11:13,225 do now to help mom not hurt so 299 00:11:13,225 --> 00:11:15,065 much? You do that with me a couple 300 00:11:15,065 --> 00:11:17,419 of times, I'll listen to the next communication. 301 00:11:17,720 --> 00:11:19,799 I'll I'll trust you on the next one. 302 00:11:19,799 --> 00:11:21,079 So we have to get out of the 303 00:11:21,079 --> 00:11:22,539 marketing message world, 304 00:11:22,919 --> 00:11:25,559 and into the actual value added world. And 305 00:11:25,559 --> 00:11:27,319 I think that is a large part of 306 00:11:27,319 --> 00:11:30,039 why Steve had success. We reached a 98% 307 00:11:30,039 --> 00:11:30,539 redetermination 308 00:11:30,919 --> 00:11:31,394 rate, 309 00:11:32,195 --> 00:11:34,754 at Ohio. It's because they built up a 310 00:11:34,754 --> 00:11:36,855 series of trusted communications 311 00:11:37,394 --> 00:11:38,835 where they said, okay. Well, they gave me 312 00:11:38,835 --> 00:11:40,595 good information about that. They gave me a 313 00:11:40,595 --> 00:11:42,754 reward. It actually gave gave me 10% off 314 00:11:42,754 --> 00:11:44,434 something I wanted. You know, you build a 315 00:11:44,434 --> 00:11:45,495 you build a relationship. 316 00:11:45,850 --> 00:11:48,090 Yeah. And so to Kendall's point there, people 317 00:11:48,090 --> 00:11:48,909 don't want 318 00:11:49,289 --> 00:11:51,610 macro messaging that are just to the the 319 00:11:51,610 --> 00:11:53,549 masses. They want micro messaging 320 00:11:54,090 --> 00:11:56,409 that is to their specific needs and their 321 00:11:56,409 --> 00:11:57,549 specific moment. 322 00:11:58,794 --> 00:12:00,254 Example, back in COVID, 323 00:12:00,714 --> 00:12:04,654 we literally had geo fence through, Kendall system 324 00:12:04,875 --> 00:12:07,514 that could geo fence the populations within an 325 00:12:07,514 --> 00:12:08,014 area 326 00:12:08,315 --> 00:12:11,615 around the pharmacy, their trusted community partner, 327 00:12:12,009 --> 00:12:14,089 to help connect with and get them, 328 00:12:14,809 --> 00:12:16,970 engaged in the care we needed, with a 329 00:12:16,970 --> 00:12:18,889 lot of unknowns at the time with COVID. 330 00:12:18,889 --> 00:12:19,629 And so, 331 00:12:20,009 --> 00:12:22,169 having a partner that can do that is 332 00:12:22,169 --> 00:12:23,149 a game changer. 333 00:12:24,024 --> 00:12:25,784 And part of that was to what we 334 00:12:25,784 --> 00:12:26,845 call mass personalized. 335 00:12:27,225 --> 00:12:28,125 And that was, 336 00:12:28,745 --> 00:12:29,644 how do you have, 337 00:12:30,264 --> 00:12:31,004 care managers 338 00:12:31,625 --> 00:12:34,584 or pharmacies or assistants to them start to 339 00:12:34,584 --> 00:12:36,904 own a population, start to own a group 340 00:12:36,904 --> 00:12:39,669 of folks and say, I'm Kendall. I'm here 341 00:12:39,669 --> 00:12:41,910 for you. You're gonna consistently see my image 342 00:12:41,910 --> 00:12:44,309 on the SMS message. You're gonna hear my 343 00:12:44,309 --> 00:12:46,470 voice on something. And even we get around 344 00:12:46,470 --> 00:12:48,070 using the other part of me plus you, 345 00:12:48,070 --> 00:12:50,710 which is chat. Right? No app. Remember? Meet 346 00:12:50,710 --> 00:12:52,789 where meet people where they are. No apps, 347 00:12:52,789 --> 00:12:55,504 folks. No no portals. No apps. But you 348 00:12:55,504 --> 00:12:58,465 can start to have actual conversations. Well, with 349 00:12:58,465 --> 00:12:59,904 who? We'd like to have with the same 350 00:12:59,904 --> 00:13:00,404 person. 351 00:13:00,785 --> 00:13:02,625 You know, we all know what customer experience 352 00:13:02,625 --> 00:13:04,705 looks like today. It's an AI bot thing 353 00:13:04,705 --> 00:13:07,720 that you you have no relationship with. We 354 00:13:07,720 --> 00:13:09,960 go the other way. We believe that including 355 00:13:09,960 --> 00:13:10,539 a human, 356 00:13:11,160 --> 00:13:14,139 in every piece, every comes changes the dynamic. 357 00:13:14,200 --> 00:13:16,679 It changes the entire conversation, and we've proven 358 00:13:16,679 --> 00:13:18,679 that. We continue to prove that. And that 359 00:13:18,679 --> 00:13:21,320 matters a lot to your core point about 360 00:13:21,320 --> 00:13:21,820 trust. 361 00:13:22,804 --> 00:13:24,164 And I just wanted to come back to 362 00:13:24,164 --> 00:13:26,085 Steve's point that he made earlier. This can 363 00:13:26,085 --> 00:13:27,445 only happen if the data is good. Right? 364 00:13:27,445 --> 00:13:29,125 You know, Steve mentioned the data just wasn't 365 00:13:29,125 --> 00:13:30,325 there at the point in time. We we 366 00:13:30,325 --> 00:13:32,404 need data to be able to feed this 367 00:13:32,404 --> 00:13:33,924 beast, so to speak, to be able to 368 00:13:33,924 --> 00:13:35,850 say, okay. We can reach out. We have 369 00:13:35,850 --> 00:13:38,350 meaningful interaction with you because we know exactly 370 00:13:38,409 --> 00:13:40,570 who you are and what you need, which 371 00:13:40,570 --> 00:13:41,470 is so crucial. 372 00:13:42,490 --> 00:13:45,629 As we look towards the future then now. 373 00:13:45,690 --> 00:13:47,529 Right? And and, Kendall, I love that you 374 00:13:47,529 --> 00:13:49,049 mentioned, like, you need to be doing this 375 00:13:49,049 --> 00:13:51,634 now. This is don't don't start six months 376 00:13:51,634 --> 00:13:53,075 from now. This is something that needs to 377 00:13:53,075 --> 00:13:54,375 start now. Right? 378 00:13:54,995 --> 00:13:56,295 How should organizations 379 00:13:56,835 --> 00:13:57,735 define success 380 00:13:58,115 --> 00:13:59,795 when they're doing this heading into the rest 381 00:13:59,795 --> 00:14:01,795 of the year and beyond? And and and, 382 00:14:01,795 --> 00:14:04,169 again, as they prepare for policy changes, what 383 00:14:04,169 --> 00:14:05,769 does all of this mean when we're looking 384 00:14:05,769 --> 00:14:06,509 in preparedness? 385 00:14:07,290 --> 00:14:09,450 I think one of the easy so I 386 00:14:09,450 --> 00:14:11,370 I believe you know, as an English major, 387 00:14:11,370 --> 00:14:12,830 I believe strongly in analytics. 388 00:14:13,370 --> 00:14:15,769 Why? Because I'm a mission based company. I 389 00:14:15,769 --> 00:14:18,644 want to prove to myself as a owner, 390 00:14:18,644 --> 00:14:21,125 but also to our customers that something actually 391 00:14:21,125 --> 00:14:23,764 happened, that action was actually taken. I don't 392 00:14:23,764 --> 00:14:25,445 care about just, oh, they touched, they clicked, 393 00:14:25,445 --> 00:14:27,204 they this. That's nice. I wanna know they 394 00:14:27,204 --> 00:14:29,284 actually did something that matters to their future. 395 00:14:29,284 --> 00:14:31,230 Right? Otherwise, I haven't met my mission, 396 00:14:31,709 --> 00:14:33,629 and our clients aren't as happy as so 397 00:14:33,629 --> 00:14:35,389 what we really look for is what I 398 00:14:35,389 --> 00:14:38,269 call response campaigns. Did you we we send 399 00:14:38,269 --> 00:14:38,769 bidirectional, 400 00:14:39,149 --> 00:14:42,690 multidirectional communications where we can prove that something 401 00:14:42,909 --> 00:14:43,409 transpired. 402 00:14:43,914 --> 00:14:45,835 So I would say an early win to 403 00:14:45,835 --> 00:14:48,075 your question is, did they get something in 404 00:14:48,075 --> 00:14:50,634 whatever language? Did they respond back that they 405 00:14:50,634 --> 00:14:51,134 understood, 406 00:14:51,514 --> 00:14:53,754 had these three questions? And then to Steve's 407 00:14:53,754 --> 00:14:55,995 point, you can't leave them dangling. You gotta 408 00:14:55,995 --> 00:14:58,875 go back around again as many times you 409 00:14:58,875 --> 00:14:59,375 follow-up 410 00:14:59,779 --> 00:15:01,700 to see if in fact you answered their 411 00:15:01,700 --> 00:15:03,460 questions. Do they know what they're supposed to 412 00:15:03,460 --> 00:15:04,820 do next? Are they gonna try and go 413 00:15:04,820 --> 00:15:06,980 to that third party and get training or 414 00:15:06,980 --> 00:15:08,899 whatever it is? So I think early thing 415 00:15:08,899 --> 00:15:11,240 is, can we check our response rates? 416 00:15:11,620 --> 00:15:14,325 What the questions are? Are we improving the 417 00:15:14,325 --> 00:15:15,625 education, the information 418 00:15:16,085 --> 00:15:18,325 dynamic, if you will? That can be done 419 00:15:18,325 --> 00:15:18,825 instantly. 420 00:15:19,205 --> 00:15:21,125 You know? That we're a SaaS company. We 421 00:15:21,125 --> 00:15:22,325 can have you up and running in less 422 00:15:22,325 --> 00:15:24,485 than thirty days. That's that's the easy part. 423 00:15:24,485 --> 00:15:26,669 Technology is the easy part. It's about did 424 00:15:26,669 --> 00:15:27,730 you build the messages 425 00:15:28,110 --> 00:15:29,870 to get the right response so you can 426 00:15:29,870 --> 00:15:30,929 continue to refine 427 00:15:31,629 --> 00:15:33,790 what's going on next. Then you say, I'm 428 00:15:33,790 --> 00:15:35,710 gonna send you an esign form, or I'm 429 00:15:35,710 --> 00:15:37,389 gonna have you take a photo of your 430 00:15:37,389 --> 00:15:39,309 driver's license or whatever it is you need 431 00:15:39,309 --> 00:15:41,090 next. We can support that entire 432 00:15:41,414 --> 00:15:44,075 virtual transaction period. Again, no apps 433 00:15:44,615 --> 00:15:45,834 all the way. But there's 434 00:15:46,455 --> 00:15:48,534 easy early success right now that we can 435 00:15:48,534 --> 00:15:50,615 demonstrate. It comes back to the trust piece. 436 00:15:50,615 --> 00:15:52,455 Right? Building that trust, being able to do 437 00:15:52,455 --> 00:15:55,014 that. Steve, same question for you. Again, how 438 00:15:55,014 --> 00:15:55,834 should organizations 439 00:15:56,134 --> 00:15:59,190 define success in all of this? Yeah. Well, 440 00:16:00,049 --> 00:16:01,190 honestly, preparedness, 441 00:16:02,450 --> 00:16:05,970 isn't just about compliance. It's whether your system 442 00:16:05,970 --> 00:16:07,829 actually works under stress, 443 00:16:08,129 --> 00:16:09,589 under that member stress. 444 00:16:10,049 --> 00:16:11,269 And so to me, 445 00:16:11,725 --> 00:16:13,745 you really gotta have a couple test points. 446 00:16:14,044 --> 00:16:16,285 Are your operations ready for the volume, the 447 00:16:16,285 --> 00:16:19,105 complexity that's gonna come? Are your communications 448 00:16:19,485 --> 00:16:21,725 easy to understand in a way that they 449 00:16:21,725 --> 00:16:23,184 know how to act on it? 450 00:16:23,500 --> 00:16:26,860 Your providers and community partners know, and are 451 00:16:26,860 --> 00:16:29,180 you working with them in a way that 452 00:16:29,180 --> 00:16:32,059 brings them into the mix that that really 453 00:16:32,059 --> 00:16:34,620 help there? Because it really comes down to 454 00:16:34,620 --> 00:16:36,080 simply this with me. Success 455 00:16:37,225 --> 00:16:39,725 is not how many notices you send out. 456 00:16:40,105 --> 00:16:43,384 Success is whether or not eligible people stay 457 00:16:43,384 --> 00:16:46,184 covered. The organizations that are able to lead 458 00:16:46,184 --> 00:16:47,325 through this next phase 459 00:16:47,705 --> 00:16:50,904 won't just manage policy, they're gonna reduce the 460 00:16:50,904 --> 00:16:53,209 friction caused by the confusion. 461 00:16:54,149 --> 00:16:55,750 Yeah. The root cause. We come back to 462 00:16:55,750 --> 00:16:57,589 the root cause being able to attack it 463 00:16:57,589 --> 00:16:59,750 from there and not just sort of hitting 464 00:16:59,750 --> 00:17:01,190 little points here and there as as as 465 00:17:01,190 --> 00:17:02,809 Kendall mentioned earlier in our conversation. 466 00:17:03,269 --> 00:17:04,950 Steve and Kendall, it's so great to have 467 00:17:04,950 --> 00:17:06,549 you both. Thank you so much for spending, 468 00:17:06,789 --> 00:17:08,924 some time with us and providing you, us 469 00:17:08,924 --> 00:17:10,605 with these great insights. It's great to have 470 00:17:10,605 --> 00:17:12,765 you. Thank you. Thank you. Really appreciate the 471 00:17:12,765 --> 00:17:14,304 opportunity. It was a pleasure. 472 00:17:14,684 --> 00:17:16,365 We also want to thank our podcast sponsor, 473 00:17:16,365 --> 00:17:17,964 Repulse You Care. You can tune into more 474 00:17:17,964 --> 00:17:19,964 podcasts from Becker's Health Care by visiting our 475 00:17:19,964 --> 00:17:22,944 podcast page at beckershospitalreview.com.