The show is here.

The show is here.

Yo, Our mission is clear.

Yo, Our mission is clear.

It's time to change healthcare. Have no fear. Today is the day. This is the hour together.

It's time to change healthcare. Have no fear. Today is the day. This is the hour together.

You know, we've got the power drop, the silos. We're all the same team experience. This is tech and marketing.

You know, we've got the power drop, the silos. We're all the same team experience. This is tech and marketing.

How can anyone be satisfied with the way things have always been? Yeah, we've tried. So join us now.

How can anyone be satisfied with the way things have always been? Yeah, we've tried. So join us now.

Join the Revolution. Consumer First Health Is.

Join the Revolution. Consumer First Health Is.

The revolution status quo or like status? No. Yeah. This is the healthcare rep, y'all.

The revolution status quo or like status? No. Yeah. This is the healthcare rep, y'all.

New choices, new platforms, new care models and the health care of tomorrow, consumers win. But who will design it? What will it look like and how long will it take? We are here to answer those questions with some provocative thinking about how to create the health care that people actually want. Ready to roll up your sleeves, Look at the world a little differently and explore the frontiers of consumer health together. Join us. This is the health care wrap. Welcome back. I'm your host, Jared Johnson. And here's what's going to go down today. We have the flavor of the week about Albertsons, New Health and Wellness App. Sincerely, Health. Can grocery stores influence consumers health by leveraging their strong brand affinity? And should you pay attention? I'll talk about that then. We welcome Ashley Conger to give us a roadmap for designing consumer experiences that address real people's needs. Consumer driven innovation tends not to be in the DNA of most health care organizations, and Ashley shares how you can make great progress without net new tech investments. It's time to dive right in. Are you ready? Let's go.

New choices, new platforms, new care models and the health care of tomorrow, consumers win. But who will design it? What will it look like and how long will it take? We are here to answer those questions with some provocative thinking about how to create the health care that people actually want. Ready to roll up your sleeves, Look at the world a little differently and explore the frontiers of consumer health together. Join us. This is the health care wrap. Welcome back. I'm your host, Jared Johnson. And here's what's going to go down today. We have the flavor of the week about Albertsons, New Health and Wellness App. Sincerely, Health. Can grocery stores influence consumers health by leveraging their strong brand affinity? And should you pay attention? I'll talk about that then. We welcome Ashley Conger to give us a roadmap for designing consumer experiences that address real people's needs. Consumer driven innovation tends not to be in the DNA of most health care organizations, and Ashley shares how you can make great progress without net new tech investments. It's time to dive right in. Are you ready? Let's go.

Flavor of the week.

Flavor of the week.

Another major grocery chain is making a play in the consumer health space. On February 6th, Albertsons announced the launch of a digital health and wellness platform called Sincerely Health that's now available on many of their grocery apps and websites, including Albertsons, Safeway, Tom Thumb and more than a dozen other chains, according to their press release. Sincerely, Health is a platform built in collaboration with health care providers, insurance companies and tech organizations who share a broader purpose to improve the health and well-being of every community they serve. The teams also gleaned valuable insights gathered from over 10,000 customers and associates. The platform will continually evolve based on customer feedback to position sincerely health as a trusted and reliable health resource. The experience begins with a brief questionnaire that measures a customer's health score based on seven dimensions of well-being. The scores are calculated using actuarial science, considering varying lifestyle factors such as age, gender, nutrition, lifestyle choices and mental health. The platform also enables users to link activity trackers such as Apple Health, Fitbit and Google Fit as well as log their vitals and medication regimen to have better visibility and control over their health and well-being. Customers can then set small, achievable goals to improve their health score, track their progress and receive actionable insights and rewards for achieving those goals. Sincerely, Health also offers an online pharmacy experience, including tools for managing prescriptions, scheduling vaccine appointments and connecting users with general practitioners via convenient telehealth services. So often we look at new players as all or nothing meaning if they don't carry Amazon sized ambitions and the business success to back it up, we tend to ignore them. I can't tell you if this particular app has the ability to make a dent in the digital health market, but like I've said before, it doesn't have to. It can still play a vital role in improving the health of thousands or potentially even millions of consumers. The brand experience of grocery stores makes them a prime candidate to make a play here. Think about it. You physically go to a grocery store much more often than a doctor's office, or you use the convenience of grocery pickup or delivery. You have a loyalty card. You see price tags with sales prices throughout the aisles. You feel good when you walk out the door. Strictly from a branding perspective, why couldn't grocery stores make a bigger play into health and wellness? If there's one thing we've learned with new entrants, it's that the consumer health journey isn't just to the doctor's office. The main lesson to me is that regardless of the effectiveness of this particular app, from the consumer's point of view, we're getting to a point where any brand with strong brand affinity could play a role in driving health behaviors and actions. That's the world we live in. That's the market you're competing in. Those are the choices facing consumers every day. You want to be the ones with the greatest influence on patients. You'll need to dedicate resources to understanding, designing and building for modern consumers. If you're not taking that seriously yet, it's time to start now. That's another way that we'll build the health care of tomorrow, and that's the flavor of the week.

Another major grocery chain is making a play in the consumer health space. On February 6th, Albertsons announced the launch of a digital health and wellness platform called Sincerely Health that's now available on many of their grocery apps and websites, including Albertsons, Safeway, Tom Thumb and more than a dozen other chains, according to their press release. Sincerely, Health is a platform built in collaboration with health care providers, insurance companies and tech organizations who share a broader purpose to improve the health and well-being of every community they serve. The teams also gleaned valuable insights gathered from over 10,000 customers and associates. The platform will continually evolve based on customer feedback to position sincerely health as a trusted and reliable health resource. The experience begins with a brief questionnaire that measures a customer's health score based on seven dimensions of well-being. The scores are calculated using actuarial science, considering varying lifestyle factors such as age, gender, nutrition, lifestyle choices and mental health. The platform also enables users to link activity trackers such as Apple Health, Fitbit and Google Fit as well as log their vitals and medication regimen to have better visibility and control over their health and well-being. Customers can then set small, achievable goals to improve their health score, track their progress and receive actionable insights and rewards for achieving those goals. Sincerely, Health also offers an online pharmacy experience, including tools for managing prescriptions, scheduling vaccine appointments and connecting users with general practitioners via convenient telehealth services. So often we look at new players as all or nothing meaning if they don't carry Amazon sized ambitions and the business success to back it up, we tend to ignore them. I can't tell you if this particular app has the ability to make a dent in the digital health market, but like I've said before, it doesn't have to. It can still play a vital role in improving the health of thousands or potentially even millions of consumers. The brand experience of grocery stores makes them a prime candidate to make a play here. Think about it. You physically go to a grocery store much more often than a doctor's office, or you use the convenience of grocery pickup or delivery. You have a loyalty card. You see price tags with sales prices throughout the aisles. You feel good when you walk out the door. Strictly from a branding perspective, why couldn't grocery stores make a bigger play into health and wellness? If there's one thing we've learned with new entrants, it's that the consumer health journey isn't just to the doctor's office. The main lesson to me is that regardless of the effectiveness of this particular app, from the consumer's point of view, we're getting to a point where any brand with strong brand affinity could play a role in driving health behaviors and actions. That's the world we live in. That's the market you're competing in. Those are the choices facing consumers every day. You want to be the ones with the greatest influence on patients. You'll need to dedicate resources to understanding, designing and building for modern consumers. If you're not taking that seriously yet, it's time to start now. That's another way that we'll build the health care of tomorrow, and that's the flavor of the week.

The flow. The flow. The flow.

The flow. The flow. The flow.

All right, everyone, let's get into the flow. Give it up for Ashley Conger. She's a founding partner at Merit Create. They help health plans and health care organizations connect more meaningfully with their consumers. We're going to dive into what that means. But first and foremost, Ashley, welcome to the Health Care app.

All right, everyone, let's get into the flow. Give it up for Ashley Conger. She's a founding partner at Merit Create. They help health plans and health care organizations connect more meaningfully with their consumers. We're going to dive into what that means. But first and foremost, Ashley, welcome to the Health Care app.

Thanks so much for having me. Jared I'm glad to be here.

Thanks so much for having me. Jared I'm glad to be here.

Let's start off, tell me a little bit about yourself. What did I miss in your bio? And maybe you can give us one of the best pieces of career advice that you've ever received.

Let's start off, tell me a little bit about yourself. What did I miss in your bio? And maybe you can give us one of the best pieces of career advice that you've ever received.

Absolutely. So my background is really just all things marketing and communications. And I've always had a focus in sort of heavily regulated industries that have these really complex stakeholder relationships. And I think it's worth noting for us here that I didn't choose health care as an industry or as a profession. And that is sometimes interesting because so many people are really called to this field. And I was actually recruited due to my work in the energy space, which, believe it or not, actually is, is rather similar to health care in a lot of ways, particularly managed care. And so the organization that that I joined to lead marketing and communications was really looking for outside thinking and best practices because I think, as you know, sometimes health care can lag when it comes to technology, even getting on the digital transformation bandwagon and bandwagon and their websites. And so I ended up joining and it was just a huge blessing in my life. So being in clean energy, I was not not unfamiliar with a mission driven organization, but working in Medicaid managed care and particularly in the behavioral health and disability space, which is where our plan was situated, really sort of took mission to the next level. So I'd like to say kind of permanently ruined me for widgets. So if you have an opportunity as a marketer or as a communicator to direct your talent and energy to help someone access services for the first time and maybe live independently or get into treatment and eventually recovery, you quickly realize that that you don't go back. And so for me, making the transition into consumer experience was really taking the best of what I've learned along the way and all the things that were really compelling and got me out of bed every morning working for a health plan. And now I just kind of do that at scale with plans and organizations around the country. And so I would say that the greatest piece of career advice I ever received was about how I was making assumptions. And when you start to pay attention to how many assumptions you make on a daily basis can really be staggering. And so for me, learning how to go into meetings, particularly if you're navigating a challenging situation with a clear mind and no assumptions about what another person might be thinking or what their motivation is, it really clears your space for critical listening, which is to me, the most important skill we all have. And so that really played out for me in health care at all levels, but particularly when we talk about consumer experience, which is why you and I are here today, we make a lot of assumptions about what we think consumers want and what we think they need. And in that process, we forget sometimes to engage with consumers with a clear and open mind and listen to what they are sharing with us. So I try to listen every day at Merritt with consumers and with the plans we're working with.

Absolutely. So my background is really just all things marketing and communications. And I've always had a focus in sort of heavily regulated industries that have these really complex stakeholder relationships. And I think it's worth noting for us here that I didn't choose health care as an industry or as a profession. And that is sometimes interesting because so many people are really called to this field. And I was actually recruited due to my work in the energy space, which, believe it or not, actually is, is rather similar to health care in a lot of ways, particularly managed care. And so the organization that that I joined to lead marketing and communications was really looking for outside thinking and best practices because I think, as you know, sometimes health care can lag when it comes to technology, even getting on the digital transformation bandwagon and bandwagon and their websites. And so I ended up joining and it was just a huge blessing in my life. So being in clean energy, I was not not unfamiliar with a mission driven organization, but working in Medicaid managed care and particularly in the behavioral health and disability space, which is where our plan was situated, really sort of took mission to the next level. So I'd like to say kind of permanently ruined me for widgets. So if you have an opportunity as a marketer or as a communicator to direct your talent and energy to help someone access services for the first time and maybe live independently or get into treatment and eventually recovery, you quickly realize that that you don't go back. And so for me, making the transition into consumer experience was really taking the best of what I've learned along the way and all the things that were really compelling and got me out of bed every morning working for a health plan. And now I just kind of do that at scale with plans and organizations around the country. And so I would say that the greatest piece of career advice I ever received was about how I was making assumptions. And when you start to pay attention to how many assumptions you make on a daily basis can really be staggering. And so for me, learning how to go into meetings, particularly if you're navigating a challenging situation with a clear mind and no assumptions about what another person might be thinking or what their motivation is, it really clears your space for critical listening, which is to me, the most important skill we all have. And so that really played out for me in health care at all levels, but particularly when we talk about consumer experience, which is why you and I are here today, we make a lot of assumptions about what we think consumers want and what we think they need. And in that process, we forget sometimes to engage with consumers with a clear and open mind and listen to what they are sharing with us. So I try to listen every day at Merritt with consumers and with the plans we're working with.

You know, there's a lot of things I just heard in there, and the first thing I'm latching on to is that last thing you just said, which is the listening component. And and assuming that we know what someone's needs are because a lot of those needs are not expressed. And so it does take a concerted effort to understand and like you said, and engage with them. And I'm intrigued by by parts of your career journey here, because.

You know, there's a lot of things I just heard in there, and the first thing I'm latching on to is that last thing you just said, which is the listening component. And and assuming that we know what someone's needs are because a lot of those needs are not expressed. And so it does take a concerted effort to understand and like you said, and engage with them. And I'm intrigued by by parts of your career journey here, because.

I think we're going to hear more and more people, quite frankly, having a similar journey.

I think we're going to hear more and more people, quite frankly, having a similar journey.

As what you just described. If we can dig down here a little bit on the consumer centered design side of what you just said, let's dig into this a little bit, because even these words, these terms, when I hear it, everything from consumer experience to consumer centered design to consumer focused innovation, I hear different iterations of it. But I think it all comes back to the same thing. It's all about designing and experience, where the consumer's actually at the center of that change management process.

As what you just described. If we can dig down here a little bit on the consumer centered design side of what you just said, let's dig into this a little bit, because even these words, these terms, when I hear it, everything from consumer experience to consumer centered design to consumer focused innovation, I hear different iterations of it. But I think it all comes back to the same thing. It's all about designing and experience, where the consumer's actually at the center of that change management process.

Which historically has.

Which historically has.

Not been the case in health care, and there are a lot of reasons for that. It's helpful to understand why things haven't happened and progressed the way they are now. So I'm curious from your standpoint, like when we talk about consumer centered innovation or designs or experiences, what do you think health care organizations are doing well and where are they struggling right now?

Not been the case in health care, and there are a lot of reasons for that. It's helpful to understand why things haven't happened and progressed the way they are now. So I'm curious from your standpoint, like when we talk about consumer centered innovation or designs or experiences, what do you think health care organizations are doing well and where are they struggling right now?

Sure. It's a great question. And I say it's kind of a big question. And I would say first and foremost, it kind of goes back to what you were just sharing, Jared. We're talking about this a lot, whatever we're calling it. And like you said, there's different names for it. We're talking about that. And that's a huge shift forward from where we've been. It reminds me a little bit about, you know, social determinants of health as we like to refer to them in health care because we love acronyms. Right? There was a long time where we talked about social determinants, but it took years before we actually. Started making really tangible investments and paying attention and diverting resources and then measuring how we're doing. And I think the same is going to follow for this whole consumer experience or person first or humanity first design. And so my first thinking about what health care organizations are doing well is actually something that you may not associate with consumer experience, and that is utilizing community health workers. So organizations that have figured that out are way ahead on consumer experience, because even with all that's happening in health care right now, organizations, health plans, health health systems that understand how and where we show up for consumers starts in the community. It's really foundational to how consumers then engage and ultimately experience health care. So I think there are so many organizations doing great work, and I figured out how to bring community health workers in, get them a seat around the table and start the consumer experience in the community. And I think another thing that is probably a more natural thing to think about is, is just where we're deploying enabling technology at a breakneck speed. And I think it's important to talk about enabling technology, because if technology is going to deliver on consumer experience, it has to be designed and implemented with consumers in mind. So a portal, for example, health portal that may be required for a state contract or federal regulations is only going to be as good as it's designed to be an enabler for consumers to have better health. And I think we're seeing organizations start to have that light bulb moment. And instead of maybe putting out an MVP that hits a lot of back end business requirements, they're they're listing consumer experience as the number one business requirement. And I think we're going to continue to see that.

Sure. It's a great question. And I say it's kind of a big question. And I would say first and foremost, it kind of goes back to what you were just sharing, Jared. We're talking about this a lot, whatever we're calling it. And like you said, there's different names for it. We're talking about that. And that's a huge shift forward from where we've been. It reminds me a little bit about, you know, social determinants of health as we like to refer to them in health care because we love acronyms. Right? There was a long time where we talked about social determinants, but it took years before we actually. Started making really tangible investments and paying attention and diverting resources and then measuring how we're doing. And I think the same is going to follow for this whole consumer experience or person first or humanity first design. And so my first thinking about what health care organizations are doing well is actually something that you may not associate with consumer experience, and that is utilizing community health workers. So organizations that have figured that out are way ahead on consumer experience, because even with all that's happening in health care right now, organizations, health plans, health health systems that understand how and where we show up for consumers starts in the community. It's really foundational to how consumers then engage and ultimately experience health care. So I think there are so many organizations doing great work, and I figured out how to bring community health workers in, get them a seat around the table and start the consumer experience in the community. And I think another thing that is probably a more natural thing to think about is, is just where we're deploying enabling technology at a breakneck speed. And I think it's important to talk about enabling technology, because if technology is going to deliver on consumer experience, it has to be designed and implemented with consumers in mind. So a portal, for example, health portal that may be required for a state contract or federal regulations is only going to be as good as it's designed to be an enabler for consumers to have better health. And I think we're seeing organizations start to have that light bulb moment. And instead of maybe putting out an MVP that hits a lot of back end business requirements, they're they're listing consumer experience as the number one business requirement. And I think we're going to continue to see that.

I think so, too. I think that's.

I think so, too. I think that's.

Going to be a framework for this next phase of consumer transformation, which is recognizing where consumer experience can be a competitive advantage. It does check all the business strategy and growth boxes, and they do recognize that, okay, that doesn't just happen separately from tech investments that they're making. That has to be a conversation that's happening in parallel and everyone needs to understand what those business requirements are. You mentioned the fact that a lot of organizations, this isn't in their DNA designing consumer experiences. It really doesn't tend to be part of what they're naturally inclined to do. I'm wondering how we you know, how do we start making some progress there or more progress than we have now? Because like I said, we're not starting at ground zero here. There is some momentum here in the industry, but in terms of skills and core competencies that are needed in a team member to take part in this, what would you say there? What skills and competencies are needed to even kind of get going here?

Going to be a framework for this next phase of consumer transformation, which is recognizing where consumer experience can be a competitive advantage. It does check all the business strategy and growth boxes, and they do recognize that, okay, that doesn't just happen separately from tech investments that they're making. That has to be a conversation that's happening in parallel and everyone needs to understand what those business requirements are. You mentioned the fact that a lot of organizations, this isn't in their DNA designing consumer experiences. It really doesn't tend to be part of what they're naturally inclined to do. I'm wondering how we you know, how do we start making some progress there or more progress than we have now? Because like I said, we're not starting at ground zero here. There is some momentum here in the industry, but in terms of skills and core competencies that are needed in a team member to take part in this, what would you say there? What skills and competencies are needed to even kind of get going here?

It's a great question, Jared, and you make such an interesting point that it not really always being in the DNA. It's such a dichotomy, right? Because most people, ourselves included, you know, you're in health care because they very literally care about the health of people and they want to be a positive force and they want to be helpful. And I think a lot of it, when you think about skill sets, goes back to what I mentioned earlier about not making assumptions and being an active listener. So one of the biggest barriers to active listening is actually expertise, because health care is nothing if not a lot of brilliant, brilliant humans that have spent a lot of time in years gaining experience. And they like talking to each other, but they tend to talk at consumers versus with consumers or listening to consumers. I was at a conference recently and someone said that their organization is learning not to how to mistake experience for wisdom and thought. That was really compelling, right? It really resonated with me. So I think we have to develop the skill set of listening to stop assuming that we know what consumers want and therefore what's best for them. And I think we also have to set intention, right. So designing consumer experiences isn't fast, and we've both spent a lot of time in health care. It moves fast. It may not seem like it on the outside, but it does. And for health plans and health care organizations, the volume of the work, the complexity of the work and the regulations are staggering. They're daunting. So asking everyone to kind of come sit around a consumer experience table and take a breath and slow down so that we get it right for consumers is a big ask. And so it's going to take a culture shift, and that takes bravery and it takes a lot of strong leadership to set consumer experiences, the North Star and then sort of plan. And you mentioned in change management, we have to enact change management from a consumer centric lens. And that's a skill that has to be learned and that muscle has to be built over time.

It's a great question, Jared, and you make such an interesting point that it not really always being in the DNA. It's such a dichotomy, right? Because most people, ourselves included, you know, you're in health care because they very literally care about the health of people and they want to be a positive force and they want to be helpful. And I think a lot of it, when you think about skill sets, goes back to what I mentioned earlier about not making assumptions and being an active listener. So one of the biggest barriers to active listening is actually expertise, because health care is nothing if not a lot of brilliant, brilliant humans that have spent a lot of time in years gaining experience. And they like talking to each other, but they tend to talk at consumers versus with consumers or listening to consumers. I was at a conference recently and someone said that their organization is learning not to how to mistake experience for wisdom and thought. That was really compelling, right? It really resonated with me. So I think we have to develop the skill set of listening to stop assuming that we know what consumers want and therefore what's best for them. And I think we also have to set intention, right. So designing consumer experiences isn't fast, and we've both spent a lot of time in health care. It moves fast. It may not seem like it on the outside, but it does. And for health plans and health care organizations, the volume of the work, the complexity of the work and the regulations are staggering. They're daunting. So asking everyone to kind of come sit around a consumer experience table and take a breath and slow down so that we get it right for consumers is a big ask. And so it's going to take a culture shift, and that takes bravery and it takes a lot of strong leadership to set consumer experiences, the North Star and then sort of plan. And you mentioned in change management, we have to enact change management from a consumer centric lens. And that's a skill that has to be learned and that muscle has to be built over time.

Oh, let's go in there a little bit. You mentioned muscles, these consumer muscles, right? Like these are things that we are just not used to growing and exercising and building much at all. And you just mentioned culture shift and really expectations when you talked about, hey, this moves slower than people might want. To me, that's an expectations challenge. Are those ways to build a consumer muscles in these organizations? Are there other keys to shifting our culture? How else do you think we build those muscles?

Oh, let's go in there a little bit. You mentioned muscles, these consumer muscles, right? Like these are things that we are just not used to growing and exercising and building much at all. And you just mentioned culture shift and really expectations when you talked about, hey, this moves slower than people might want. To me, that's an expectations challenge. Are those ways to build a consumer muscles in these organizations? Are there other keys to shifting our culture? How else do you think we build those muscles?

I think the most important way we build those muscles, Jared, is, is we have to bring folks in from the outside. We have to work alongside consumers. We have to co-design. So for organizations that are just starting this process, you know, having a consumer advisory board or they call them by lots of different names, but having a dedicated group of consumers that are it's no different than having a board of director or a board of advisors, but it's advisors that have lived experience that have different cultural backgrounds, that speak different languages, that come from different walks of life, that are actively co-designing with you. And again, that takes time and it takes intention. But I think the best way to build a muscle, right is, you know, that old expression walk a mile in someone's shoes. We've got to bring the folks that are walking in the shoes that that we're trying to help to the table. And we have to work with them not just one time, but iteratively over time and using those advisory boards and then building. And I'm sure you've used these member journey maps. Those are table stakes, right? Understanding as an organization, all the different places that a consumer interacts with your organization and where it's really good and where there's a lot of friction. And I'm always fascinated when I work with organizations on this because the surprise factor of what you think is going to be something that's painful for consumers isn't really the thing that they're most focused on. That's so frustrating to work with you. So really having a really clear understanding of how and where consumers are even having an experience with your organization that sits with them. And then I think the other thing is having that single source of truth, right? Health care systems and organizations run a million miles an hour and they run on seven, eight, nine stacks. And it's really hard just to even get a picture of a consumer. And I think if we want to be consumer first and design for consumers, we've got to we got to have the data behind that. So to know who we're talking to and what's coming to the table with.

I think the most important way we build those muscles, Jared, is, is we have to bring folks in from the outside. We have to work alongside consumers. We have to co-design. So for organizations that are just starting this process, you know, having a consumer advisory board or they call them by lots of different names, but having a dedicated group of consumers that are it's no different than having a board of director or a board of advisors, but it's advisors that have lived experience that have different cultural backgrounds, that speak different languages, that come from different walks of life, that are actively co-designing with you. And again, that takes time and it takes intention. But I think the best way to build a muscle, right is, you know, that old expression walk a mile in someone's shoes. We've got to bring the folks that are walking in the shoes that that we're trying to help to the table. And we have to work with them not just one time, but iteratively over time and using those advisory boards and then building. And I'm sure you've used these member journey maps. Those are table stakes, right? Understanding as an organization, all the different places that a consumer interacts with your organization and where it's really good and where there's a lot of friction. And I'm always fascinated when I work with organizations on this because the surprise factor of what you think is going to be something that's painful for consumers isn't really the thing that they're most focused on. That's so frustrating to work with you. So really having a really clear understanding of how and where consumers are even having an experience with your organization that sits with them. And then I think the other thing is having that single source of truth, right? Health care systems and organizations run a million miles an hour and they run on seven, eight, nine stacks. And it's really hard just to even get a picture of a consumer. And I think if we want to be consumer first and design for consumers, we've got to we got to have the data behind that. So to know who we're talking to and what's coming to the table with.

Us, these are absolutely the areas.

Us, these are absolutely the areas.

That we need to build up these core competencies. Now, I feel like that's that's related a little bit to to some of the content that you put out on LinkedIn. There's a post you had recently. For instance, it was titled Ten Ways Health Plans and Health Care Organizations Can Bridge the Digital Divide.

That we need to build up these core competencies. Now, I feel like that's that's related a little bit to to some of the content that you put out on LinkedIn. There's a post you had recently. For instance, it was titled Ten Ways Health Plans and Health Care Organizations Can Bridge the Digital Divide.

Could you dive into that.

Could you dive into that.

For a moment like some of the insights that you shared on that list?

For a moment like some of the insights that you shared on that list?

Yeah, I'd be happy to. This is such an area of passion for me, and so I'm happy to talk about it. And I think, you know, as it relates to the digital divide, I think most of us have a clear understanding of of how important access is, both to, you know, when you're thinking of a digital divide, you've got to have a stable Internet connection, right? And you have to have the right devices. And I think a lot of really good work has happened as a result of the pandemic and continues to happen. And there are a lot of great organizations that are working actively to bridge, bridge those gaps. And when you think of right device, Jared, most consumers, especially in Medicaid, where I spend a whole lot of time, use their mobile phone as the single point of access. And it's remarkable to me that so many sites in health care are still not optimized for mobile and maybe your front page, maybe your two key pages are optimized. But consumers don't stay there. They dig around to find what they need. And if you are having to pinch and enlarge your screen to try to do something, you've already lost a consumer, you've not delivered on the experience. And you just you make the divide larger. And I start with that one because honestly, it's the easiest to fix, right? It doesn't take a lot of investment in time and resources to fix that. Where I spend most of my time though, really is around some of the other insights and I'll talk a little bit about plain language. Plain language really speaks to health literacy. And to me, health literacy is step one for any kind of health equity. And I think it's a place where we fall down a lot and therefore we have a lot of areas of improvement for for health organizations to do better with plain language. I mentioned earlier that health care is a lot of really smart people. We love talking to each other and we love jargon and we love medical terminology, we love acronyms, and a lot of times we just completely lose sight that beyond our four walls, people don't use this language and no one talks like we talk. And so we have to learn to show up in our outreach using spoken language versus how we would typically write language if we were writing an article, for example, for a scholarly journal. Right? And then we've got to wrap that into content that is accessible. So thinking about how we put out content and where what kind, how it's translated, is it culturally relevant? Right? So all the ways that we show up to engage with consumers, sometimes we are inadvertently creating a bigger divide just by the nature of the language we use and the type of content we put. We bury so much content on our websites that take seven clicks to find. And I don't know about you, but I give. Up, right? If it's not, I have this expression. Click, click, poof. It's not click, click, poof. I'm not that interested in finding it right. And so all those things create a division between consumers and ultimately the health care organization that really is just trying to help them. And then I think the other thing, Jared, that we talk about in this in that LinkedIn post is consistency. So we all like to talk about no wrong door in health care, right? Well, if we want there to really be no wrong door, we have to put the same thing behind every door. We can't have consumers jump around and get five different answers to the same question. So when we want to break down digital divide and improve access, we have to be consistent. And then most importantly, like we've already talked about, we have to have our technology, our digital content, our websites, our social media, our portals. Everything has to be vetted and tested with consumers because that's how we get it right.

Yeah, I'd be happy to. This is such an area of passion for me, and so I'm happy to talk about it. And I think, you know, as it relates to the digital divide, I think most of us have a clear understanding of of how important access is, both to, you know, when you're thinking of a digital divide, you've got to have a stable Internet connection, right? And you have to have the right devices. And I think a lot of really good work has happened as a result of the pandemic and continues to happen. And there are a lot of great organizations that are working actively to bridge, bridge those gaps. And when you think of right device, Jared, most consumers, especially in Medicaid, where I spend a whole lot of time, use their mobile phone as the single point of access. And it's remarkable to me that so many sites in health care are still not optimized for mobile and maybe your front page, maybe your two key pages are optimized. But consumers don't stay there. They dig around to find what they need. And if you are having to pinch and enlarge your screen to try to do something, you've already lost a consumer, you've not delivered on the experience. And you just you make the divide larger. And I start with that one because honestly, it's the easiest to fix, right? It doesn't take a lot of investment in time and resources to fix that. Where I spend most of my time though, really is around some of the other insights and I'll talk a little bit about plain language. Plain language really speaks to health literacy. And to me, health literacy is step one for any kind of health equity. And I think it's a place where we fall down a lot and therefore we have a lot of areas of improvement for for health organizations to do better with plain language. I mentioned earlier that health care is a lot of really smart people. We love talking to each other and we love jargon and we love medical terminology, we love acronyms, and a lot of times we just completely lose sight that beyond our four walls, people don't use this language and no one talks like we talk. And so we have to learn to show up in our outreach using spoken language versus how we would typically write language if we were writing an article, for example, for a scholarly journal. Right? And then we've got to wrap that into content that is accessible. So thinking about how we put out content and where what kind, how it's translated, is it culturally relevant? Right? So all the ways that we show up to engage with consumers, sometimes we are inadvertently creating a bigger divide just by the nature of the language we use and the type of content we put. We bury so much content on our websites that take seven clicks to find. And I don't know about you, but I give. Up, right? If it's not, I have this expression. Click, click, poof. It's not click, click, poof. I'm not that interested in finding it right. And so all those things create a division between consumers and ultimately the health care organization that really is just trying to help them. And then I think the other thing, Jared, that we talk about in this in that LinkedIn post is consistency. So we all like to talk about no wrong door in health care, right? Well, if we want there to really be no wrong door, we have to put the same thing behind every door. We can't have consumers jump around and get five different answers to the same question. So when we want to break down digital divide and improve access, we have to be consistent. And then most importantly, like we've already talked about, we have to have our technology, our digital content, our websites, our social media, our portals. Everything has to be vetted and tested with consumers because that's how we get it right.

I'll tell you, one of my favorite parts, there was plain language. My my favorite example I always gave on the hospital side and I admit I did not have a high rate of success of convincing clinicians of this, but my favorite word was multidisciplinary. And I always said, like, those are seven syllables that are patients will never get back. You know, just even reading that, I'm like, okay, doctors, let's let's sit here for a second. What does that mean? It means that you're going to pull in doctors of other disciplines to help this patient that you would need to talk to anyway. And so by saying I'm like, this is kind of a thing that a patient assumes anyway, so it's not a differentiator I don't like. I try to be playful with it, but I admit it, you know, it probably didn't come off correctly, but yes, that's great. Your multidisciplinary team, I will tell you, everyone expects that. So let's just let's just get rid of that word. Let's just not even worry about it anymore.

I'll tell you, one of my favorite parts, there was plain language. My my favorite example I always gave on the hospital side and I admit I did not have a high rate of success of convincing clinicians of this, but my favorite word was multidisciplinary. And I always said, like, those are seven syllables that are patients will never get back. You know, just even reading that, I'm like, okay, doctors, let's let's sit here for a second. What does that mean? It means that you're going to pull in doctors of other disciplines to help this patient that you would need to talk to anyway. And so by saying I'm like, this is kind of a thing that a patient assumes anyway, so it's not a differentiator I don't like. I try to be playful with it, but I admit it, you know, it probably didn't come off correctly, but yes, that's great. Your multidisciplinary team, I will tell you, everyone expects that. So let's just let's just get rid of that word. Let's just not even worry about it anymore.

It's such a great point. Seven syllables that you never get back.

It's such a great point. Seven syllables that you never get back.

And we do that with terminology, right? Just because someone has cardiac arrhythmia, the person that has cardiac arrhythmia doesn't think of it as cardiac arrhythmia. It's okay to just describe it so that a consumer can understand what it is.

And we do that with terminology, right? Just because someone has cardiac arrhythmia, the person that has cardiac arrhythmia doesn't think of it as cardiac arrhythmia. It's okay to just describe it so that a consumer can understand what it is.

Yeah, absolutely. Is there a success.

Yeah, absolutely. Is there a success.

Story out there right.

Story out there right.

Now where where healthcare organizations really are co-designing a consumer experience there are at least dipping their toe in the water and they've seen the benefits. Anything, any success stories out there that you'd be willing to share?

Now where where healthcare organizations really are co-designing a consumer experience there are at least dipping their toe in the water and they've seen the benefits. Anything, any success stories out there that you'd be willing to share?

Absolutely. I would take a step back for just a minute and say, you know, I had the opportunity to attend the Medicaid Innovations Conference at the beginning of last week. And one of the things that was resounding from everybody that that was there and on stage and presenting and talking is the importance of telling the exact stories that you're that you're asking me if I have an example of, because most people do want to get it right and they want to share the wins and they want to share where consumers are having better outcomes. And so I think telling stories like this are so important, and that's what's really going to bring everybody forward together, and that's what's going to ultimately be the best benefit for consumers, right, as we start to share what's working. And so I can give you an example where we used at our Medicaid health plan just with the Spanish speaking community, we knew that we were missing a lot of our opportunity to serve and engage with our Spanish speaking members, but we just we didn't know what we didn't know. And so we just, you know, we started at the basics like we looked at our geography. What percentage of the population is Spanish speaking? Are they eligible for services? What what services? Then we went to our consumer advisory board. We asked them what's missing in the community, where are their needs? And then most importantly, what's the culture in the community around behavioral health and disabilities? Right, because those are really important things to think about when you're going to do outreach. We took a look at all of our Spanish content internally and externally, and we looked at our team. We really did some intentional hiring and specific departments so that we would have cultural relevance and competency. And then we sort of combine that with our folks off site and our consumer advisory boards and our community partners. And we found partners that were already serving and built up trust in the community and we kind of doubled down and doubled up with them and asked them what do consumers want need? And so as a result of that, we implemented a Spanish language mental health screening tool. We started writing blogs purely in Spanish for Spanish speaking individuals, and we had co distribution with our partners and we had just unbelieve results like something like almost 1,000% of a jump in our website and our Spanish Spanish language sessions. You know, our blog got picked up outside of the out of the country even, right? And we found moving forward that our Spanish speaking events and our outreach was by far the most successful that we'd ever done. And it's just because from the beginning we acknowledged we didn't know what we didn't know, and we designed it together. And so I think things like that are are really helpful for other people to know is that you can start small. This was a very small community of humans, but we knew that we could be doing better by them. And when you get a win like that, I think that really helps galvanize the organization to say, okay, what's the next one? What's the next thing that we can kind of come together and tackle and make a real impact? And so I like telling stories like that, but I really like hearing stories like that. And I think that's one of the great things that we have about LinkedIn. I know that's where you and I connected first, and there's just some great content out there that people are doing really good work. There's a. Great article. I send it to you on patient engagement in patient engagement about Children's Hospital and Medical Center in Nebraska. And they did all this work on the digital front door, but they did it in tandem with their patient and Family Advisory Council and let them prioritize their areas of investment. And they're seeing benefits across the organization as a result of that.

Absolutely. I would take a step back for just a minute and say, you know, I had the opportunity to attend the Medicaid Innovations Conference at the beginning of last week. And one of the things that was resounding from everybody that that was there and on stage and presenting and talking is the importance of telling the exact stories that you're that you're asking me if I have an example of, because most people do want to get it right and they want to share the wins and they want to share where consumers are having better outcomes. And so I think telling stories like this are so important, and that's what's really going to bring everybody forward together, and that's what's going to ultimately be the best benefit for consumers, right, as we start to share what's working. And so I can give you an example where we used at our Medicaid health plan just with the Spanish speaking community, we knew that we were missing a lot of our opportunity to serve and engage with our Spanish speaking members, but we just we didn't know what we didn't know. And so we just, you know, we started at the basics like we looked at our geography. What percentage of the population is Spanish speaking? Are they eligible for services? What what services? Then we went to our consumer advisory board. We asked them what's missing in the community, where are their needs? And then most importantly, what's the culture in the community around behavioral health and disabilities? Right, because those are really important things to think about when you're going to do outreach. We took a look at all of our Spanish content internally and externally, and we looked at our team. We really did some intentional hiring and specific departments so that we would have cultural relevance and competency. And then we sort of combine that with our folks off site and our consumer advisory boards and our community partners. And we found partners that were already serving and built up trust in the community and we kind of doubled down and doubled up with them and asked them what do consumers want need? And so as a result of that, we implemented a Spanish language mental health screening tool. We started writing blogs purely in Spanish for Spanish speaking individuals, and we had co distribution with our partners and we had just unbelieve results like something like almost 1,000% of a jump in our website and our Spanish Spanish language sessions. You know, our blog got picked up outside of the out of the country even, right? And we found moving forward that our Spanish speaking events and our outreach was by far the most successful that we'd ever done. And it's just because from the beginning we acknowledged we didn't know what we didn't know, and we designed it together. And so I think things like that are are really helpful for other people to know is that you can start small. This was a very small community of humans, but we knew that we could be doing better by them. And when you get a win like that, I think that really helps galvanize the organization to say, okay, what's the next one? What's the next thing that we can kind of come together and tackle and make a real impact? And so I like telling stories like that, but I really like hearing stories like that. And I think that's one of the great things that we have about LinkedIn. I know that's where you and I connected first, and there's just some great content out there that people are doing really good work. There's a. Great article. I send it to you on patient engagement in patient engagement about Children's Hospital and Medical Center in Nebraska. And they did all this work on the digital front door, but they did it in tandem with their patient and Family Advisory Council and let them prioritize their areas of investment. And they're seeing benefits across the organization as a result of that.

That's outstanding work. Just the process you just mentioned and some of the steps there. So thank you for sharing. We go by a lot of different names and titles and even work in different departments, right, for for professionals who are involved in this type of work on one aspect or another of consumer centered design, and then the business transformation that has to take place around that. The culture shift that you mentioned, there's a lot of different layers to it, but at the end of the day, there is like this single purpose, which is this designing around consumers needs. What do you think about this community as it kind of coalesces and it begins to grow? We're definitely seeing conversations happening and connections being made.

That's outstanding work. Just the process you just mentioned and some of the steps there. So thank you for sharing. We go by a lot of different names and titles and even work in different departments, right, for for professionals who are involved in this type of work on one aspect or another of consumer centered design, and then the business transformation that has to take place around that. The culture shift that you mentioned, there's a lot of different layers to it, but at the end of the day, there is like this single purpose, which is this designing around consumers needs. What do you think about this community as it kind of coalesces and it begins to grow? We're definitely seeing conversations happening and connections being made.

How else can we build.

How else can we build.

Up this community of professionals who are involved in this.

Up this community of professionals who are involved in this.

Work? It's a.

Work? It's a.

Great question. I think first and foremost, we've got to prop the door open. I think making paths for community health workers and other non-traditional entry points, people who have different lived experience, diverse cultural experience, diverse viewpoints, let's prop open the door and get out of our own way. Sometimes, you know, we like to to get in our own way, not not by intention just because it's the way it's always been done. And then I think we've got to settle big table. We put a lot of seats around the table because when we make sure that everyone's at the table, regardless of their reporting structure, you know, and where they sit in the organization, cross-functional collaboration becomes the rule rather than the exception. Because you're right, we're hearing it called a lot of different names. It's got a lot of different titles and it's a lot of different departments. And the risk was that is that there's not a consistent value placed on consumer experience or an emphasis, and it just lives everywhere. So when we bring the door open, we pop the door open and we get a lot more people around the table. We just have to, like you said, make that the culture and make it the rule rather than the exception. And you do see organizations that are mastering this start to move the needle a lot more quickly and more dramatically than those that are still working in siloed organizations. So I think really just being open to having a lot more people around the table and that can be scary.

Great question. I think first and foremost, we've got to prop the door open. I think making paths for community health workers and other non-traditional entry points, people who have different lived experience, diverse cultural experience, diverse viewpoints, let's prop open the door and get out of our own way. Sometimes, you know, we like to to get in our own way, not not by intention just because it's the way it's always been done. And then I think we've got to settle big table. We put a lot of seats around the table because when we make sure that everyone's at the table, regardless of their reporting structure, you know, and where they sit in the organization, cross-functional collaboration becomes the rule rather than the exception. Because you're right, we're hearing it called a lot of different names. It's got a lot of different titles and it's a lot of different departments. And the risk was that is that there's not a consistent value placed on consumer experience or an emphasis, and it just lives everywhere. So when we bring the door open, we pop the door open and we get a lot more people around the table. We just have to, like you said, make that the culture and make it the rule rather than the exception. And you do see organizations that are mastering this start to move the needle a lot more quickly and more dramatically than those that are still working in siloed organizations. So I think really just being open to having a lot more people around the table and that can be scary.

Well, it can. But you know what? My experience has been that that's been one of the greatest joys of being involved in this work is as that table has expanded and we get more people around it, it's been nothing but transformative in my own view, of of work, quite frankly. So yeah, I think there's a lot of hope and promise there too.

Well, it can. But you know what? My experience has been that that's been one of the greatest joys of being involved in this work is as that table has expanded and we get more people around it, it's been nothing but transformative in my own view, of of work, quite frankly. So yeah, I think there's a lot of hope and promise there too.

What progress do you think we can realistically expect?

What progress do you think we can realistically expect?

Let's give it kind of a shorter term window like the next 1 or 2 years. What do you hope can happen? Like what could all of this achieve us? Or like what could it yield us as an industry as we move forward?

Let's give it kind of a shorter term window like the next 1 or 2 years. What do you hope can happen? Like what could all of this achieve us? Or like what could it yield us as an industry as we move forward?

I think personally, I am working on finding balance between what I hope is going to happen and what I want to see happen and what I think is realistic in the short term. I think you do a great job of talking on your podcast of just all the just remarkable changes and dynamics that are happening in health care in any given moment. And it's a lot at once. So consumer experience and consumer transformation is one aspect of what's happening in health care. And my hope is that it becomes the overarching banner with which we view all the things and all the transformations and all the consolidations that are happening in health care. We do that with a mind towards consumer transformation. And I think before we can get there, we really have to focus on integration and optimization. There are some table stakes around infrastructure that have to happen in order for consumer transformation to be really moving at a faster pace. So we need data, right? As a collective industry, we've got to define what are the measures that matter for consumer experience. We have to optimize our existing technology. We have to connect it both on the back end and on the front end so that we have these single view points and so that consumers don't have to jump through hoops to get what they need. And I think that in and of itself, just the optimization, the integration is going to take two years. And then I think we're going to be poised to move very, very quickly after that.

I think personally, I am working on finding balance between what I hope is going to happen and what I want to see happen and what I think is realistic in the short term. I think you do a great job of talking on your podcast of just all the just remarkable changes and dynamics that are happening in health care in any given moment. And it's a lot at once. So consumer experience and consumer transformation is one aspect of what's happening in health care. And my hope is that it becomes the overarching banner with which we view all the things and all the transformations and all the consolidations that are happening in health care. We do that with a mind towards consumer transformation. And I think before we can get there, we really have to focus on integration and optimization. There are some table stakes around infrastructure that have to happen in order for consumer transformation to be really moving at a faster pace. So we need data, right? As a collective industry, we've got to define what are the measures that matter for consumer experience. We have to optimize our existing technology. We have to connect it both on the back end and on the front end so that we have these single view points and so that consumers don't have to jump through hoops to get what they need. And I think that in and of itself, just the optimization, the integration is going to take two years. And then I think we're going to be poised to move very, very quickly after that.

Thank you for sharing that. That's outstanding. And that's actually a wrap for this episode. We've had so much fun and you've given our listeners so much to think about. I've had the.

Thank you for sharing that. That's outstanding. And that's actually a wrap for this episode. We've had so much fun and you've given our listeners so much to think about. I've had the.

Pleasure of speaking with.

Pleasure of speaking with.

Ashley Conger from Merritt Create. Thanks so much for joining us today.

Ashley Conger from Merritt Create. Thanks so much for joining us today.

Thanks. It was great to be with you.

Thanks. It was great to be with you.

Thanks for tuning in. If you like what you heard, please spread the word. Tell your colleagues to tune in for all the awesomeness, then leave a review on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen. This show is produced by Shift Forward Health The Channel for Change Makers. Subscribe to Shift Forward Health on your favorite podcast app and you'll be subscribed to our entire library of shows. See our full lineup at Shift Forward Health. Com one subscription all the podcasts you need and it's all for free. And remember, we might have a lot of work to do in health care, but we'll get there faster together. Thanks again.

Thanks for tuning in. If you like what you heard, please spread the word. Tell your colleagues to tune in for all the awesomeness, then leave a review on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen. This show is produced by Shift Forward Health The Channel for Change Makers. Subscribe to Shift Forward Health on your favorite podcast app and you'll be subscribed to our entire library of shows. See our full lineup at Shift Forward Health. Com one subscription all the podcasts you need and it's all for free. And remember, we might have a lot of work to do in health care, but we'll get there faster together. Thanks again.