The halo effect of improving health outcomes through incentives
What actually happens when you pay health plan members for following their care plan?
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs illustrates that our basic needs are physiological, including food, shelter, and clothing. But what if you can’t meet your basic needs? What if you have food or housing insecurity? What if you have bills you can’t pay? When you are having trouble meeting your fundamental needs, you may want to take care of yourself, but you can’t. This can be particularly disastrous for people with chronic conditions.
One company that is helping break this cycle is Wellth. CEO and Co-Founder, Matt Loper, joined SameSky Health Founder and CEO, Abner Mason for the latest episode of our LinkedIn Live Series, Under the Same Sky. View the recording below.
Wellth uses the science of behavioral economics to motivate health plan members to increase care plan adherence. By communicating with members in the way they prefer – using the right channel with the right message, they begin to engage members. Starting small, they work with members to form habits. These habits lead to behavioral changes, which ultimately drives better health outcomes for the member.
So how do they do it? Member incentives.
When a member has a care plan, Wellth sends them reminders for their daily behaviors. The member then checks in their tasks using their smartphone. Then, Wellth pays them for results.
While many argue that paying members doesn’t work, because they’ll waste it, research shows otherwise. Wellth tracks what members spend their incentives on and the results speak for themselves:
68% spend them on groceries and meals
20% spend them on household needs
7% spend them on vehicle maintenance and fuel
5% spend them on home repairs
In other words, members spend those incentive dollars on fundamental needs.
Further, that spending has a halo effect within the community. Research shows that every dollar in cash aid that people receive increases economic activity within a community by $2.60.
“What do underserved populations need? They need financial support. It’s pretty straightforward.”
Hear more from the conversation between Matt and Abner by watching the video above. Learn more about Wellth here.
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