Top 5 Healthcare Topics of 2021

  • January 10, 2022
  • Blog Post
  • Kathleen Ellmore

As we start the new year, here at Engagys, we are looking back at the healthcare topics that resonated most with industry executives. Don’t miss out on our best insights and recommendations from 2021.

Ready…Set…Text!

The 2021 Supreme Court ruling in favor of Facebook’s use of text messages is a significant development for health plans and providers. Interpretation of the 30-year-old Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) got a much-needed update on what qualifies as a robocall. Based on that decision, certain automated text messaging from health plans and providers should no longer fall in that category. While this won’t be a license for unabated automated outreach, this is great news for the healthcare industry as text messaging is an effective channel to improve consumer health engagement.

Find out details regarding Digital Transformation and Communications Governance.

C360 Approach Yields Results

Many of our clients are incorporating various C360 approaches into their overarching governance taxonomies and communication programs. With a coordinated, personalized C360 approach that puts the member first, there are many benefits to both the consumer and organization. For instance, members receive consolidated communications using plain language that considers their channel preference. Instead of reinventing the communications wheel, healthcare entities can use an existing communications repository of information to inform outreach.

Learn more in The Importance of C360 in Healthcare and How to Do it Successfully.

Healthcare Communications - Too Much or Not Enough?

Understanding the right frequency for health entities to send out member communications is tricky. While it’s clear that variation in healthcare means there is no hard and fast rule, there are best practices to consider. Focusing on messaging context, outreach value, and communications purpose are critical to delivering a compelling message that will drive actionable results.

Read our Top 3 Best Practices for Healthcare Communications Frequency.

Seniors Tell It Like It Is

Now more than ever, keeping seniors engaged in their health and reducing member churn is critical. Earlier this year at the RISE West conference, we sat down with seniors to talk candidly about engagement with their health plans. Kathleen Ellmore hosted a panel of 10 Medicare Advantage members to find out what was on their minds related to their health plan experience.

Learn more at RISE West 2021 Conference: Direct Insights into the Medicare & MA Product from Members Themselves.

Personalization Pitfalls

Healthcare consumers no longer appreciate personalization—they expect it. Yet, marketing messages are inescapable. Consumers are constantly bombarded with content. In healthcare, if you aren’t personalizing communications to your members, it’s just noise. Assuming what worked yesterday still works today, using a one-size-fits-all segmentation scheme, and just saying too much are all avoidable issues.

Learn more here about the specific Pitfalls of Personalization in Healthcare Messaging.

Kathleen Ellmore



Ms. Ellmore is one of the earliest pioneers in bringing the best of consumer marketing and data driven methodologies to healthcare. Instead of getting you to eat when you are not hungry and buy things you don’t need, we can finally use the same strategies to instead change the health equation in America. Kathleen previously led the Consumer Engagement consulting practice for Welltok (formerly Silverlink) for 12 years, leveraging its data repository of over a billion consumer health interactions, the best of behavioral economics, and the latest in clinical research, to create evidenced-based communications on what works to drive consumer healthcare behavior yielding better outcomes and lower costs. She is often quoted in the trade and national press and is a regular speaker on the national stage, having spent the first twenty years of her career in brand marketing at leading consumer marketing organizations, including General Mills and P&G. Additionally, she was a Vice President at Digitas, a leading direct marketing firm. Recently she was selected as Consultant Member of the first ever FDA’s Patient Engagement Advisory Committee.