Medicare Part D has fundamentally changed the healthcare industry. It has at the same time challenged healthcare companies with new business and communications needs. The objective is to provide care and long-term retention by reaching out to members with ongoing services, support and education based on member specific benefits. As a result, Part D program executives have had to re-think their engagement models as traditional call center and mail communication strategies that are either very costly or often ineffective. The use of highly personalized, automated communications to Part D members has already had a profound impact in the provision of plan information and positively influenced member plan retention.  Results have also included a dramatic reduction in members needing to make calls into contact centers making companies more efficient and at the same time delivering improvements in medication, prescription regimes and money savings for members. New communication techniques have also been successfully used in medication therapy management (MTM) outreach, benefit explanation and the coordination of benefits support.

It is important to also understand the positive impact automated communications are having with senior citizens. Seniors to a large degree welcome and in many cases prefer personalized automated calls over other forms of contact.