Technology, such as digital wellness programs, is helping to reshape the health and wellness industry, enabling providers to deliver personalized care at scale that’s accessible when, where, and how participants prefer. It’s helping providers work smarter, not harder, to streamline programs and deliver engaging, personalized care and content that drives results.
Leveraging technology and automation, for everything from program enrollment, content, reminders, and surveys, health and wellness providers can communicate with participants and keep them engaged along every step of their health and wellness journey. Here we explore the automations that can increase the performance of health and wellness programs:
No. 1: Automating your onboarding process
We think it’s safe to say no one wants to be bogged down in paperwork – even if it’s digital. Providers can eliminate clunky onboarding processes with the help of digital wellness solutions. How? Automation. By automating their onboarding, providers give program participants the freedom to fill out intake forms and answer questionnaires at their own pace and convenience. This gives providers the opportunity to ask more in-depth questions and gain insights into the lifestyle choices, preferences and goals of program participants.
With a deeper understanding of how participants think, act, learn, and communicate at the start of their health and wellness journeys, providers can quickly launch personalized content and care. That’s essential in the health and wellness sector, where providers need to seize the opportunity to engage participants when they are most enthusiastic about enacting change.
It begins with creating an easy onboarding process that allows program participants to dive right into the good stuff – that is the content, learning, and results, they want, fast.
No. 2: Automating your educational resources
With the right tech in hand, providers can automate the delivery of educational resources that supplement in-person, or one-on-one, coaching. The ability to easily launch personalized content that meets the needs of each and every participant gives providers the ability to meet people where they are, with the content and tools they need anytime and anywhere.
With every automation, it’s important to consider how people communicate and utilize preferred methods to spark engagement. Take SMS (text) for example. Studies show that as people turn more frequently to their phones for everything from shopping to health visits, they are opening more text messages than emails. In fact, SMS open rates hover between 90-99% depending on who you ask. This casual mode of communication with a more personal feel should be considered as a prime channel for all sharing and communications.
No. 3: Automating your participant reminders
We’ve all experienced the dreaded New Year’s resolution slump. You know that point along the road to better eating or steady exercise where life has other plans and your enthusiasm wanes. It’s a tale as old as time, but it’s also one technology and automation are rewriting.
Providers have long grappled with the precipitous challenge of inspiring participants, and keeping them engaged, throughout the duration of their health and wellness journeys. Now, thanks to automation, when motivation dwindles or progress stalls, providers can deliver energizing program reminders that give participants that jolt of inspiration they need.
By simply automating reminders (especially via text), providers can inspire participants to complete modules, delve into content, and show up for one-on-one sessions. What’s more: providers can automate personalized messages of support that encourage participants to continue making health-positive decisions and stay on track with their goals.
No. 4: Automating your program feedback
Participants in health and wellness programs come ready and willing to make a change. In doing so, they open themselves up to accepting feedback from providers about the choices they make in their day-to-day lives. If providers emulate this openness to feedback, they can gain actionable insight into their programs, services, and participant reception and results.
Soliciting honest participant feedback in both in-person and virtual settings, however, can be challenging. Here’s where automation comes into play once more. Providers can automate the sending of participant surveys and feedback forms to learn about their individual program progress, goals, and how they are liking the coaching program. By automating insight-gathering tools, providers can use participant experiences to make improvements during a participant’s journey to build strong provider-patient relationships and drive results.
To learn more about how technology and automation can help providers engage and inspire health and wellness program participants throughout every step of their lifestyle-change journey, contact our team.
