Resource Center

NEWS RELEASE - September 1999
Contact: Maggie Bruce, 480-947-8078
bruce@hsmgroup.com

Health Care Customer Loyalty Program
Developed by Scottsdale-Based Firm
Wins National Award

A health care industry customer loyalty program developed by The HSM Group, Ltd., a Scottsdale-based relationship marketing and consulting firm, has received national recognition for innovation in managed care.

Managed Healthcare magazine recently presented its 1999 Aesculapius Award for "Innovative Leadership in Managed Care" to the Bayer Corporation for its Bayer Member Retention Program (BMRP) designed and implemented by HSM. The Aesculapius Awards, named for the Greek god of medicine, have honored excellence in health care for the past 25 years. They are presented annually by the four health care industry magazines published by Advanstar Healthcare Communications.

The Bayer Member Retention Program is an industry education and service initiative providing resources to help health plans reduce voluntary disenrollment by improving customer service and building quality relationships with members. The Aesculapius Award honors the significant research, data and evidence-based results of the program.

"The winner of our award must demonstrate that it has dramatically improved a specific treatment or component in managed care," says Timothy Troy, editor of Managed Healthcare. "The research and outcomes of the Bayer Member Retention Program stood apart from other nominees in 1999."

"Retention has become an economic imperative for more and more health plans as they realize that voluntary disenrollment costs them millions of dollars a year," says Steven D. Wood, PhD, chairman of The HSM Group. "Back in 1994, HSM identified retention and loyalty as a key business issue for health plans, as well as an important factor in improving the quality and continuity of care for U.S. consumers," says Wood. "Bayer wanted to invest in building relationships with its health plan customers and recognized that championing the retention issue would accomplish that objective, as well as provide a valuable service to the industry."

HSM partnered with Bayer to 1) quantify the economic impact of disenrollment and retention; 2) identify the underlying reasons why members choose to leave one health plan for another; 3) educate the industry about the importance of retaining members; and 4) consult with managed care organizations on how to measurably increase retention.

"Bayer Corporation is honored to receive this national recognition," says Mitchell Cohen, market manager for national accounts and managed care markets for Bayer Pharmaceutical. "The Aesculapius Award recognizes that Bayer's partnership with The HSM Group and managed care organizations nationwide is working to improve the quality of medical care and customer service delivered to America's consumers."

On behalf of the Bayer Member Retention Program, The HSM Group recently completed a two-year national research study to uncover the major drivers of disenrollment and is currently piloting "model" retention solutions in selected health plans across the country. For several years, HSM has conducted BMRP retention assessments and retention planning workshops with health plans nationwide. In addition, the firm designed a software modeling tool to help plans see how incremental decreases in voluntary disenrollment will affect revenues and the bottom line.

Bayer and HSM regularly share research findings and retention strategies with the entire industry through symposia, conferences and publications.

Wood and the HSM senior consultant responsible for the Bayer account, Dana Hoernig Felthouse, joined Bayer at the Plaza Hotel in New York for the 1999 Aesculapius Awards presentation.

The HSM Group, Ltd. is a national leader in health care relationship marketing. The firm's expertise is sought by industry innovators including Fortune 100 companies to achieve their customer loyalty and retention objectives and bottom-line goals.

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