Open enrollment is approaching: Boost staff participation with text messaging

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We're approaching open enrollment season — the time of year when staff can change their benefit options available through their employer. This is an important period for health care providers and their staff, as an open enrollment experience that maximizes staff engagement, prioritizes education, and streamlines the overall process can yield significant benefits (no pun intended).

Employees can avoid lapses in coverage, make better decisions about their benefits to support health and lifestyle needs, and gain a stronger understanding of their coverage costs to help with budgeting. For employers, a positive open enrollment experience can translate to higher staff satisfaction, which is increasingly pivotal given the increased competition for employees and elevated rates of staff turnover that can strain finances and overall organization performance. Improved staff participation in open enrollment also decreases the burden on human resources departments.

Considering what's on the line, providers need to combine strategic planning and effective communication to ensure employees understand their coverage options and deadlines. If your organization has text messaging, achieving successful open enrollment becomes much easier and much more likely.

8 ways to use texting for open enrollment

Brandon Daniell
_{© Dialog Health}

Providers can leverage a text messaging campaign to power staff engagement in open enrollment. Here are eight of the ways to incorporate texting into your open enrollment strategic plan along with template text messages you can customize for use by your organization.

1. Initial announcement. As you near open enrollment, inform employees about the start date and what open enrollment means.

Template message: "Our open enrollment starts [date]. This is when you review and compare health insurance plans, make changes to your coverage, and enroll in a new plan. Look for a message when open enrollment starts that will provide the link to begin the process."

2. Educational resources. To help staff prepare for their open enrollment responsibilities, text links to educational resources, such as videos and webpages. Consider adding a note about what staff should do if they have questions. If you have conversational, two-way text messaging, you can enable staff to respond if they require help.

Template message: "Open enrollment starts [date]. Watch this video to understand the process before making your selections: [video hyperlink]. Contact HR at [phone number] or respond to this text if you have any questions about your open enrollment responsibilities."

3. Share contact information of benefits specialist. If your health care organization has access to a benefits specialist whose role is to assist staff with completing open enrollment and making sound decisions, share this individual(s) contact information.

Template message: Need help with open enrollment? [Specialist's name] is available to help you throughout the process! Reach [specialist's name] at [email address] or [phone number].

4. Period opens announcement. On the day your open enrollment period starts, inform staff, share a link to the benefits portal, and include the open enrollment end date.

Template message: "Open enrollment begins today, [date], and ends [date]. Review your benefits options and make selections directly in your employee portal at [website address].

5. Reminders. Send texts reminding staff about the open enrollment end date. A message sent two weeks, one week, and the day of the deadline can reduce the likelihood of anyone missing the deadline.

Template messages:

• "There's two weeks left to make changes to your health insurance. Visit [URL] to review your options."
• "One week remains for our open enrollment! Don't miss out on updating your benefits. Go to [URL] now."
• "Today is last day to enroll or make changes to your health insurance. Visit [URL] ASAP! If you still need help, contact HR now."

6. Notification of email messages. Send texts to notify employees to check their email for open enrollment information and links, which will help ensure this important information is not overlooked in a likely crowded inbox.

Template message: "Please check your email from [date] for your dependents form to be completed. Please let us know if you have any questions."

7. Confirmation text message. When a team member completes open enrollment, send a message confirming their success and provide next steps, if necessary.

Template message: "Your open enrollment selections have been received. Thank you! Review your confirmation email for details. Reach out to HR if you have any further questions."

8. Experience survey. After your openenrollment period closes, survey employees about their experience to glean insights you may be able to use to improve next year's open enrollment experience. A two-way text can survey staff, or you can include a link to a survey in the message.

Template message: Thank you for participating in open enrollment! We want to learn about your experience so we can improve open enrollment next year. Reply to this message with any feedback or recommendations.

7 open enrollment texting best practices

To further strengthen your open enrollment text messaging campaign, follow these seven best practices:

1. Obtain employee consent. Receive consent from employees before sending text messages, especially if you intend to message a personal (versus corporate) phone number.
2. Personalize messages. Use your texting platform's ability to include staff members' names in messages to make your communications feel more personal and engaging.
3. Highlight significant changes. If benefits are undergoing significant changes, note them in your messaging to help ensure staff understand the updated program and options.
4. Simplify language. Keep messages concise and avoid jargon as much as possible.Simpler communication will help employees understand what is being asked of them and what they must do.
5. Spread out messages. Send timely, periodic reminders throughout the open enrollment period to help avoid overwhelming staff with messages.
6. Remove completions. When a team member has finished their open enrollment responsibilities, remove their number from the year's campaign to avoid sending them messages that no longer apply.
7. Integrate text messaging with other channels. Combine texting with emails, intranet posts, and meetings to keep open enrollment as an area of focus and make the process accessible and informative for everyone.

Improve open enrollment communication with text messaging

If a team member misses the open enrollment deadline, they may not be able to change their coverage or could face a loss of coverage. Team members who feel rushed about open enrollment decisions may make mistakes or oversights. Either of these scenarios is likely to lead to decreased staff satisfaction and increased work for a human resources team that must deal with administrative burdens and frustrated employees.

Automating a series of text messages to go out before, throughout, and after open enrollment, paired with manual messages that acknowledge milestones or speak to individual staff member questions or concerns, are highly efficient and effective ways to increase engagement and participation.

Set your organization and your employees up for open enrollment success this year: Create a two-way texting campaign that uses clear communication to keep employees informed about the open enrollment period, deadlines, helpful resources, and how to receive assistance. This will have them feeling supported throughout the open enrollment process and enable them to make more informed decisions that enhance their appreciation for their employment and the valuable benefits that come with it.

Brandon Daniell is co-founder and chief revenue officer of Dialog Health, a provider of a HIPAA-compliant, conversational two-way texting platform to organizations which they can leverage as a communication and engagement channel.