How to Avoid CMS 2023 D-SNP Enrollee Advisory Committee Headaches

CMS’s vision is to improve communication and increase understanding of special needs populations with its new 2023 D-SNP enrollee advisory committee requirement. But, for health plans, the unwelcome reality is greater complexity and confusion, not to mention expense.

Many health plans are assigning special teams to identify D-SNP candidates for Enrollee Advisory Committees. A better approach is to integrate new CMS requirements into existing engagement campaigns. This approach yields faster access to member feedback at a lower cost.

A Better Way to Identify Enrollee Advisory Committee Members:

The sustainable way for health plans to assemble productive Enrollee Advisory Committees is to enable D-SNP beneficiaries to naturally identify themselves during existing outreach.

Our recent blog, Ditch the Scripts, discusses how technology helps call centers engage members using a conversational approach. Each beneficiary’s viability as a D-SNP enrollee advisory committee participant is a natural output of the conversations.

There are no special campaigns, no added expenses or complexities. Your health plan is already communicating with special needs members. Why not identify Enrollee Advisory Committee (EAC) candidates during those same engagements?

Technology automates candidate profiles for health plan executives following routine engagement outreach. This output details: member engagement reliability, demographics, level of member interest in participating, ability to interact in positive ways, and initial feedback or suggestions for plan improvements. And because technology continues to assess all ongoing call center outreach, your health plan has a never-ending supply of reserve Enrollee Advisory Committee (EAC) candidates.

How to Integrate Enrollee Advisory Committee Action Plans Into Existing Workflows:

The action plans generated by the Enrollee Advisory Committee (EAC) should not increase complexities for the health plan. Technology can guide the call center to include these topics during ongoing engagements. For example, calls could include priority topics such as increasing awareness about medical transportation benefits or other topics identified by the committee.

Using your call center’s existing engagements for Enrollee Advisory Committee (EAC) testing provides rapid, accurate feedback. There is no training and no lead time required to do this. Call center staff build relationships and satisfaction while gathering valuable feedback to test EAC hypotheses. Automated outputs validate the success of each focus topic, including any variability among member demographics. This automated output is exactly the type of member-driven, statistically validated result that CMS is looking for. And it is provided, touch-free.

Your health plan already has the bandwidth to comply with CMS D-SNP requirements. By integrating Enrollee Advisory Committee (EAC) recruitment into existing workflows, everyone is aligned with the spirit of CMS’s vision to improve understanding, support and outcomes for special needs populations.