While the economic downturn has forced SelectHealth to discontinue some of its projects, the health plan has reallocated its resources to new campaigns, thanks to data from its communications partner, the Eliza Corp.

SelectHealth, part of InterMountain Healthcare, had conducted a colorectal cancer screening campaign, identifying which members to send a letter to and call through claims data. The campaign was successful in meeting the HEDIS measurement.

The data that the Eliza Corp. presented showed that the letters were just as effective as the calls, said David Larsen, director of quality improvement.

Only letters will go out with the next campaign. SelectHealth will monitor any change in the HEDIS measure to determine if the campaign needs to be tweaked again the next time around, Larsen said.

“This allows us to use our dollars more effectively,” he said.

SelectHealth has been working with the Eliza Corp. for five years. Larsen pointed out that with any outreach campaign, improvement rates plateau at some point. “You need to be aggressive and try a new approach,” he said. As a result, SelectHealth has worked with Eliza to create better-tailored applications.

Even before the economy took a nosedive, the Eliza Corp. had seen an increase in demand because payers are increasingly focusing on member engagement and decision support, said CEO Lucas Merrow.

Elizabeth Boehm, a Forrester Research analyst, agreed, adding that the overarching trend in payer communication is to make member communication more personalized and relevant.

Behavior change communication is  typically around disease and wellness management or boosting consumer engagement, she said. In that arena, the industry is seeing the application of behavioral science, the need for more flexible technologies and some real analytics-based improvement in how these communications go out – all of which differentiates the Eliza Corp. in the marketplace, she said.

“People have different ways of engaging in the world around them, and that’s important to keep in mind when it comes to developing healthcare communications, said Alexandra Drane, president and co-founder of the Eliza Corp.

“So how can we tap into these differences – and actually leverage them to inspire healthy behavior change? By letting people feel heard. By acknowledging that they are more than what their socio-demographics show.”