Health insurers have long been using their influence to drive meaningful progress in care delivery, community investment, cost savings and health outcomes.

But that’s not usually the dominant narrative. And in today’s news cycle, effectively telling those stories to demonstrate impact matters more than ever.

Here’s why: With the presidential election on the horizon, health care affordability is a topic of national conversation and attention. Recent polling by KFF shows that 80% of voters say it’s one of the most important issues for candidates to discuss. With the spotlight on this one aspect of healthcare, your key stakeholders – members, employers, and patients – are primed to hear what you’re already doing to contain costs and improve health outcomes.

The bird’s eye view: Both money and data flow through payers, making them uniquely positioned to spot inefficiencies in health care delivery, identify innovations that could be scaled up and provide broad community support to influence health outcomes. And they’re using that position to spark collaboration and effect change:

• Payers and providers have been working together to accelerate the shift to value-based care, which has proven effective in minimizing both costs and health complications for standard procedures such as knee replacements.
  
  Recent data from a six-year partnership between Independence Blue Cross and Rothman Orthopaedic Institute showed their value-based care contracts saved more than $3,000 per patient while reducing hospital admissions by 38%.
• Insurers have a window into site-of-care price transparency and are empowering members with the information to choose the most cost-effective location for a service, without sacrificing quality.
• Payers are utilizing their unique data sets – including member information, claims data and clinical records – to search for potential gaps in care, measure disease progression and identify other valuable insights for clinicians. Elevance Health is one example of an insurer that uses the information to improve members’ care by directly embedding their insights, suggested next steps and potential risks into providers’ workflow.
• Many payers have a deep, data-informed understanding of the social determinants of health that impact their specific communities and have invested in targeted solutions.
  
  Numerous national insurers as well as several Blues have invested billions in developing affordable housing – which is linked to lower healthcare costs and a healthier community, including a significant impact on pediatric health.

Zoom out: Insurers are doing the hard work to improve outcomes and drive down the cost of care. They should get some credit, especially because it’s happening in collaboration with providers. Clear, memorable storytelling will help payers meet the political moment – and their members’ concerns – in a way that demonstrates value and action.

Here's how:

• Find the simplest way to communicate your impact. Take each initiative or program you want to highlight and summarize its impact for stakeholders in the clearest and most concise way possible. Then lead with that. In the daily barrage of information, a tight statement or narrative with clear impact will stand out.
• Publicly, tell a story. Nothing is as memorable as a story. In your campaigns, speeches and social media, share patient stories that connect to the concerns and hopes of your audience. Where you can connect the dots between innovations or cost-saving initiatives and patient impact, do so.
  
  Northwell Health tells a story of their first provider to treat a cardiac arrest inside a helicopter – a compelling account that also highlights their use of predictive analytics to proactively position ambulances and helicopters, saving precious minutes for the most fragile patients.
• Privately, maximize opportunities for direct communication. Your audience is flooded with information at every touchpoint – but a direct conversation is much more likely to be absorbed and remembered. Member and client care staff should be trained on your initiatives and able to relate them to stakeholders’ concerns.
  
  When Independence Blue Cross connects members with Registered Nurse Health Coaches to provide guidance for complex or chronic conditions, they are also creating an opportunity for coaches to clearly communicate the insurer’s commitment to helping members navigate the health system with lower costs and better outcomes.
• Consistently return to this message. Campaigns, member touchpoints and even news interviews should communicate that bottom line – how you are innovating to save stakeholders’ money and improve health.
• Partner with strategists who understand both your audience and your role in the healthcare ecosystem. Each entity in the healthcare system plays a valuable role, and you’ll want a communications team that understands the fluidity of the environment along with the unique capabilities you bring to the table.

Stay tuned for part two of this conversation next month, where we’ll highlight the ways providers are innovating to improve health outcomes while containing costs.