As a third-party administrator, your clients look to you to help them be successful, and one of the key indicators of success is good retention. Whether it’s retaining employees or members, retention shows that your client is offering excellent service. And that you’re doing your job well. Plus, high retention rates lead to cost savings since it costs five times more to acquire new members or employees than to retain them. So as a TPA, what cost-efficient strategies can you offer to help your clients’ retention? Keep reading to find out!‍

Digital self-service capabilities.‍

Online shopping, food delivery, social media. They’ve all created a culture that expects convenience through digital self-service capabilities. In fact, a McKinsey & Company report found that consumers prefer healthcare services through digital and online channels. An affordable and easy way to introduce digital self-service features to your clients is through our healthcare shopping app. The PointHealthTech app offers upfront prices for hundreds of services and allows users to shop and compare:

• Doctors
• Hospitals
• Imaging centers
• Labs
• Medications
• And more.

Choosing the most affordable healthcare option ensures lower healthcare costs for your clients and their members or employees. It also adds personalized, digital capabilities to your clients’ offerings. Which is great because, according to one study, health plans with digital capabilities outperform competitors in overall satisfaction and retention by 5%. The same report also found that 57.5% of members, across all ages, believe it’s important for health plans to offer digital self-service features. This will meet your clients’ goals of improving retention and help them stand out among competitors.‍

Advise clients to get personal.

People love personalization. And seeing as though healthcare is already a highly personal experience for most people, it makes sense for your clients to offer personalization in their health benefit offerings. Survey your clients’ members or employees to see if there are any commonalities between them. If the majority are parents, consider adding services or features that parents will appreciate. For example, telemedicine access to pediatricians or resources with helpful tips for newborn health. Is there a chronic disease that’s prevalent among your clients’ members? Use a RxSaver to get discounts on the medications they need. Current and potential members will notice this personalization, leading to better member retention.

Third-party healthcare navigation.

Our final tip that's a cost-efficient way to help your clients’ retention is to offer healthcare navigation services. Specifically, to partner with a third-party patient advocacy company to provide these services. Healthcare navigation leads members to their best care option at an affordable rate. This means cost savings for them and your client. Everyone loves a good deal, so if members’ or employees’ medical bills are lower after utilizing healthcare navigation they’ll stay loyal to your client. They’ll also feel cared for and supported, which can lead to better satisfaction ratings too. In fact offering a patient advocacy service, like healthcare navigation, can lead to an average NPS growth of 16.5%.

Final thoughts.

Your clients don’t have to put up with low retention rates year after year. You can be the hero that provides them with cost-efficient strategies that not only improve their retention but also their member satisfaction and overall costs.