This paper develops a comprehensive customer relationship management (CRM) strategy for United Behavioral Health (UBH), a subsidiary of United Health Group specializing in managed mental health and substance abuse services. Using the IDIC framework—Identify, Differentiate, Interact, Customize—the paper audits UBH's current CRM state, defines a desired future state, and proposes specific improvements across all four dimensions. Topics covered include patient identification through color-coded database categorization, customer valuation modeling, drip-irrigation dialogue techniques, touch-point redistribution, and customization for the employer division. The paper concludes with a recommended CRM infrastructure and key lessons learned about technology, customer satisfaction, and strategic CRM design in a behavioral healthcare context.
Customer relationship management (CRM) is an essential component of organizational management. The purpose of this discussion is to focus on a CRM strategy for United Behavioral Health (UBH), a subsidiary of United Health Care. United Behavioral Health is dedicated to providing customers with high-quality, cost-effective, managed mental health and substance abuse services. The investigation suggests that the company's core values have been successfully implemented into its CRM strategy.
The current CRM strategy utilizes technology to allow customers to voice their opinions. The company's website provides a page that offers help to members experiencing problems, and it provides customers with "coaches" who can assist whenever issues arise. The company's customers are currently divided into three groups: the employer division, the health plan division, and the public sector. Testimonials from customers indicate high levels of satisfaction with the care and attention they receive. In the future, the company aims to implement a strategy that provides customers with account access, ensures the secure flow of customer information, allows customers to ask healthcare questions and receive answers online, and delivers efficient healthcare services to as many customers as possible.
The discussion suggests that identification and differentiation are essential to building a successful CRM strategy. To properly serve customers, the company must have as much information as possible, including medical records that reflect current and past medications. Proper customer identification can lead to greater customer satisfaction.
Differentiation is also essential. Customer value is identified as the most prevalent method used to differentiate customers. Differentiation is important because it allows organizations to allocate resources toward their most valuable customers.
The new CRM strategy is designed to address many issues, including the customization of services. Improvements include new software and a database of accurate customer information. The IDIC design will incorporate the new strategies discussed throughout this report. These improvements include an identification process that places customers into categories arranged by shared characteristics, a differentiation strategy utilizing a new valuation model based on future earnings, retention rate, profit margin, acquisition rate, and cost of acquiring new customers, an interaction strategy featuring improved dialogue and a drip-irrigation approach, and a customization strategy for the employer division using courtesy calls and mailings to inform consumers of policy or plan changes.
Customer relationship management is a key component of organizational management. Ensuring that customers are satisfied with the services and products they purchase should be at the forefront of strategic goals at any firm. The purpose of this discussion is to develop a CRM strategy for United Behavioral Health.
United Behavioral Health is a subsidiary of United Health Care. UBH was established in 1985 with the sole purpose of assisting clients with the management of their behavioral health care services. UBH is dedicated to delivering high-quality, cost-effective, managed mental health and substance abuse services to its customers. These services evolve and respond as the field of health care management changes. UBH offices are located throughout the country, with corporate offices in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Each center is divided into different markets. For example, one division—Group South—has its headquarters in Coral Gables, Florida, and serves Florida, Maryland (Mid-Atlantic), Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Virginia.
United Behavioral Health's mission is to improve the mental health and well-being of individuals. This mission is supported by three closely related goals: (1) to provide quality services to patients and customers; (2) to control costs through clinically proven treatment programs; and (3) to develop and manage a system that is attractive to health plan customers.
UBH's vision is focused on improving members' lives through professional service and quality care. Its core values include: responsiveness, compassion, and advocacy for those affected by mental illness and substance abuse; respect for the dignity and privacy of individuals; prevention and education; honesty and integrity; operational excellence; and continuous learning and innovation.
The current CRM strategy utilizes technology to allow customers to voice their opinions. The company's website provides a page that offers help to members experiencing problems. A "help a member" tool allows customer service representatives to assist customers by providing links to healthcare providers, enabling policy reviews, and allowing customers to complete surveys.
The current system meets some customer needs by enabling inquiries about available services and allowing consumers to participate in surveys that help the company better serve them. The system is also convenient, allowing customers to make inquiries both over the internet and by phone.
According to the company's website, UBH serves a wide range of customers, including Fortune 500 companies, child welfare organizations, disability carriers, and school districts. To better serve these customers, the company has divided them into segments: the employer division, the health plan division, and the public sector.
Customers who utilize UBH's services express satisfaction, in part because the company is innovative and has created a customer relations strategy that leverages current technologies. The company was one of the first in the industry to use the internet to meet and address customer needs, and it was also the first to offer a spectrum of services including disability support, employee assistance, and behavioral health programs.
Customers are also served in a unique way in that they do not need to call different 1-800 numbers to get what they need. Instead, each customer is assigned a coach who aids them with their policies and helps them find solutions. This strategy makes it easy for customers to receive the personalized attention that is often lacking at similar companies.
The company's core values are instrumental in the execution of its CRM strategy. One illustrative example is the feedback received from a customer named Thelma, who lost her husband and had difficulty coping with his death. Thelma explains:
"She had trouble getting out of bed in the morning and watched numbly as her bills piled up. When her car developed engine trouble, she left it in the garage. Bob always took care of these things. She felt sad, alone, and unsure about what to do. Thelma's son encouraged her to call UBH for help. Soon she was working through the grieving process with a therapist. UBH also connected Thelma with a financial advisor and a mechanic. With her household finances under control and her car back in working order, Thelma is slowly learning how to move on with her life."
This story illustrates the level of satisfaction that UBH customers experience. It is one of many testimonials available on the company's website. As reflected in UBH's touch-point map, the post-service stages of the customer service cycle—satisfaction, loyalty, and advocacy—are currently emphasized most heavily.
In relation to CRM, the company must ensure that it maintains a competitive advantage in the industry. It must formulate ways to provide the type of service that customers desire. For instance, the company must ensure that when customers call the emergency number for assistance, wait times are minimal. Customer service representatives must be trained and equipped to deal with customers appropriately.
The company must also make a concerted effort to supply programs that effectively address mental illness and drug abuse, establishing standards of care that encompass the overall mission of the organization. The care customers receive should address their individual needs while remaining cost-effective.
In the future, UBH should implement a CRM strategy aligned with its overall mission that addresses the following priorities:
All of these steps will be important in the implementation of a new CRM strategy. UBH must make every effort to maintain the satisfactory CRM strategy already in place while adding new components to improve customer relationships.
UBH's customers are patients dealing with serious health issues, including mental illness and drug abuse. To properly serve these individuals, the company must have as much information as possible. Medical records—including current and past medications—are essential for providing appropriate care.
"Future CRM goals and service improvement priorities"
For United Behavioral Health, determining customer value may prove challenging given its diverse customer base, which ranges from corporate clients to disability carriers to individual patients. To address this, a customer valuation model must be created that incorporates discounted future earnings, retention rate and profit margin, and acquisition rate and cost of acquiring new customers (Gupta, Lehmann, and Stuart, 2002).
Customers can also be differentiated based on their needs. UBH serves three main groups—employers, health plans, and the public sector—each with distinct priorities. Employers are primarily concerned with plan options and cost for their employees. Health plan customers focus on coverage types and access costs. Public sector customers, who often receive Medicaid and welfare benefits, have limited income and are chiefly concerned with having all of their health needs met.
Customer portfolios will be tailored accordingly. For the employer division, portfolios will reflect the number of employees, the length of the business relationship, and annual expenditure on UBH services. For the healthcare division, customers can be categorized by the type of services (HMO or PPO) offered and by organizational size.
The way in which UBH interacts with customers is essential to a successful CRM strategy. Currently, most touch points occur in the realm of customer satisfaction—after the service has already been administered. The new CRM strategy aims to more equally distribute touch points across the customer lifecycle. For instance, in the knowledge phase, the company will gather more detailed customer information to increase satisfaction and build loyalty.
The dialogue between customers and UBH must be tailored to the needs of each customer group. Coaches who counsel employers may ask about coverage needs and work with employers to offer fair rates that reduce customer attrition. This type of interaction would occur at the knowledge and selection stages of the customer lifecycle.
UBH should also develop a 360-degree view of each customer. A comprehensive portfolio divided into sections—personal information (name, address, phone number), years of coverage, and medical records—would allow coaches to assist customers more effectively without repeatedly asking the same questions.
Drip irrigation dialogue is another interactive tool that can be used. This approach involves employees asking customers one or two targeted questions during each contact. As one article on customer communication advises: "Every time you have contact with a customer or prospect, you have a golden opportunity to discover their desires, fears, wishes, priorities… Make sure you are asking them the questions that you want to know the answers to. You will never know if you don't ask, and you shouldn't pass up any opportunity to gain information about your customers."
For UBH, drip irrigation can occur during interactions between customers and coaches, or through online forms. When customers contact their coaches, the coaches can use that time to ask two questions that update or add to the customer's existing profile. On the website, UBH can implement software that asks customers questions at login. Suggested questions include:
These questions allow the company to compile a list of areas for improvement and a list of services that are most valued by customers. This approach is subtle and requires minimal effort from both the company and the customer.
Customer complaints will be handled by a dedicated department. Similar complaints will be grouped together, and if a sufficient volume of similar complaints is received, UBH will investigate and work to resolve the underlying issue. Interactive tools for implementation will include software to collect website data and a database system capable of running queries and organizing information by category. All software will be kept current and properly maintained by the IT department.
"Dialogue techniques, drip irrigation, and employer division customization"
"IDIC implementation plan and project takeaways"
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