Sand Cherry Health

Introduction

Sand Cherry Health combines our work over more than two decades in the areas of digital and smart home services, digital marketing and engagement, and omni-channel customer operations transformation with world-class healthcare-focused expertise in healthcare delivery and digital engagement to create:

Innovative “next-gen” healthcare experiences that transform traditional provider-patient and payer-member relationships to inspire loyalty and improve profitability
Deeper, more holistic, higher frequency, lower cost patient/member engagements and interactions
Shift in the delivery of health and wellness services from traditional clinical settings to more convenient and lower cost environments through virtualization and digital enablement
Personalized and frictionless experiences that better enable patients to manage their own health, deliver superior care outcomes, lower care and support costs, and improve business efficiency

Transforming The Future of Healthcare

Combining the collective learnings from two decades of work in broadband communications, in-home digital services and healthcare management to transform wellness and healthcare delivery and patient engagement

Vantage Point

Health Transformation Partnership

Sand Cherry and several long-time partners have created a “Health Transformation Partnership” to deliver transformative healthcare consumer experiences that drive engagement, loyalty, market share and profitability.

Healthcare Market Challenges

Telehealth and Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) needs have exploded as COVID 19 has kept patients away from traditional care settings. Implementation of these solutions have often been done quickly out of necessity and now must be optimized.
New compensation structures such as value-based contracting demand more robust and efficient data collection, management and reporting capabilities.
Emergence of digital tools and capabilities has created opportunity to transform the delivery of healthcare and customer support in order to increase operational efficiency and create better user experiences.

Sand Cherry

Business consultancy known for leading large-scale critical business initiativesin the areas of customer experience and engagement

The Valde Group (TVG)

Management consulting firm focused on driving positive strategic and operational change in the healthcare arena
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GainShare Performance Marketing

Performance marketing firm with over 35 years of experience in delivering ROI and market share thru optimized customer journeys, UX, digital, video and TV
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Mission

Unique partnership to combine world-class capabilities in the development and delivery of technology services, digital transformation and customer experience innovation

Leverage industry expertise and technological innovation to create transformative experiences and efficiencies within healthcare that drive engagement, loyalty, market share and profitability

Define and develop innovative healthcare products/solutions that create sustainable market value and drive subscriber/member lifetime value

Develop and execute effective marketing strategies and tactical plans that build and grow strong brands and market position

Collective Capabilities and Expertise

Our collective capabilities span the areas of telehealth and other digital and smart home services, digital marketing and engagement, and omni-channel customer operations transformation.

Telehealth Innovation
Digital Enablement & Engagement
Customer Operations Transformation
Data Management & Integration
Performance Analytics

Telehealth Innovation

Deep expertise in building end-to-end fulfillment & activation processes for broadband-delivered technology solutions, encompassing both business and user/consumer process design

Numerous supply chain/ distribution management transformation initiatives for numerous Fortune 100 companies

Team of UX experts with 20+ years of experience building end-to-end user experiences and operational support structures

Extensive experience working with big box retail chains in designing and building in-store “service” purchasing experiences

Have operated access centers on behalf of provider clients, including development & delivery of patient Telehealth capabilities
Digital Enablement & Engagement

Digital and direct response team of creative and marketing professionals with 20+ years of driving customer acquisition for insurance, financial services, healthcare and NFPs companies

Deep expertise in developing multi-channel marketing strategies, spanning digital and mobile platforms, direct response, etc.

Led numerous digital marketing transformation initiatives for Fortune 100 companies, to increase digital acquisition rates and spend effectiveness by 2x-3x or greater

Team of UX/UI experts with over 20 years of experience building end-to-end digital experiences, process flows, and operational support structures
Customer Operations Transformation

Led numerous contact center stand-ups, reorganizations, and consolidations for Fortune 100 companies with national customer care operations footprints

Operated access centers on behalf of provider clients (e.g. health systems)

Led numerous business process improvement initiatives to reduce costs and improve the customer experience, spanning contact center, digital/e-care, retail, and in-home channels

Developed patient access strategy for large health system to increase omni-channel (e.g. digital, access center, office, etc.) contact capabilities and consistency to deliver robust, consistent and accessible customer experiences
Data Management & Integration

Cross-industry, large-scale experience in data architecture and management & data insights/analytics

Deep domain experience in healthcare IT and data ecosystems, including migration of platforms (data and business processes) within the healthcare industry

Deep understanding of data value and leverage in payer/provider business operations

Cross-industry experience in data extraction, cleaning, blending, alignment and storage architecture

Led various data analytics initiatives within the healthcare industry (payer and provider)
Performance Analytics

Domain experts in healthcare data and workflow management, and data analytics — translating data-driven strategies into operational realities (payer and provider clients)

Deep understanding of process data in payer/provider business operations & associated cost driver implications

Cross-industry experience in financial cost-driver model development, data mining, predictive modeling and prescriptive algorithm intelligence

Designed and led medical cost transformation program for $17B Blues plan

Designed and supported execution of medical cost transformational program for regional Blues plan

CONSUMER HEALTHCARE JOURNEY

We pursue a consumer-centric view in tackling most of our healthcare clients’ challenges, knowing that consumer loyalty and satisfaction drives long-term value creation through business stability and growth.

Understand, empathize, anticipate, design, create. This sequenced approach is critical for all aspects of any healthcare business, whether payer, provider or supplier, and starts with a framework for breaking down the consumer healthcare journey.

Learn more about our Consumer Healthcare Journey Framework

Healthcare Transformation Case Studies

The Healthcare Transformation Partnership has over decades of market-proven, data-driven results in enabling world-class next-gen innovation in telehealth, omni-channel engagement, and customer operations to create transformative patient-centered health and wellness experiences and outcomes.

Building the Optimal Healthcare Organization
Designing the blueprint and sourcing of team members for a new health insurance product team with the skill sets and structure to grow to over $1B in revenue within 24 months
Challenge
- A large regional health insurer was starting a brand-new business unit, this new entity had one team member at the start – the Vice President
- This leader was tasked with building a new team and becoming profitable within 12 months
Approach
- Our team leveraged its industry expertise and organizational design acumen to develop the blueprint for what the team structure would be, what skill sets are needed at each organizational level and roadmap to build the team
- Our team created the job descriptions and roles/responsibilities plan as well as, helped drive the candidate interview process
Results
- Within a year, the team had grown in both size and revenue generated
- At the 2-year mark, the team was over $1 billion in revenue, while keeping the same organization design originally developed by our team
Digital Marketing & Customer Experience Transformation
Reinventing the acquisition and engagement model by integrating new industry-leading digital tools, techniques and platforms
Challenge
- Client had recently launched a digital product that was being sold in traditional retail locations due to their existing sales capabilities
- Business plan required them to pivot out of existing channels and into digital channels to support the required acquisition costs
- No existing digital strategy, leadership, and very limited resources.
Approach
- Defined digital strategy, and organizational changes and resource needs as well as transition roadmap
- Provided interim ‘Head of Digital’ who evaluated existing digital business, resources, activities; identified gaps and needs, recommended end-state digital solution
- Stood up and scaled various new acquisition channels, redesigned the consumer experience, and provided overall digital project and program management in support of a 2.0 product release
Results
- Subscriber increase of 13x
- Increased % of total customer base with product from 10% to 53%
- Overall revenue increase of 3x
Optimizing Provider Access Center Operations
Building an industry-leading patient access center that leverages technology, redefined success metrics and patient-centered design thinking to dramatically improve the patient and family experience
Challenge
- A large multi-facility health system needed to redesign its call center to better meet the needs of the patients and their families while improving efficiency of its operational processes
- The health system’s goal was to evolve its current underperforming call center into an industry leading, cutting edge patient access center that leveraged technology, redefined success metrics and patient-centered design thinking to dramatically improve the patient and family experience
Approach
- Our team developed a structured approach to defining the goals and future vision of the call center
- Established the new organizational design, established a reporting command center, and redesigned the various business processes
- Established new success metrics
- Designed new reporting and developed/delivered training for the new organization
Results
- The previous call center was transformed into a state-of-the-art patient access and navigation center
- New capabilities, more efficient operations and real-time performance reporting that enabled better resource management
Health Insurer Business Platform Innovation
Leading the business process and technology change program to transform a health insurer’s capabilities from an antiquated system to a state-of-the-art business platform
Challenge
- A large regional health insurer was migrating to a new suite of front and back office applications as part of a multi-year change program
- The client requested that our team take the lead role in migrating a $1 billion business unit within the organization
Approach
- Disciplined and methodical approach to the complex migration:
- Identified each functional area and identified SMEs in each area
- Developed a core implementation team
- Defined an overall workplan with defined delivery milestones and managed issues identification and escalation
- Led cross-functional core team including internal client resources as well as external vendors
Results
- Over a 2-year period, the entire business was successfully migrated to the new platform on time and under budget
- Client is now realizing the benefits of the new platform which includes new functionality as well as new business processes defined and documented by our team
DIGITAL SERVICES SUPPLY CHAIN TRANSFORMATION
Transforming the processes and platforms for inventory management, delivery and reclamation/re-use of in-home technology and devices
Challenge
- Client maintained and managed over 430 warehouses across 24 regions with inconsistent and insufficient processes for management and distribution of in-home digital devices and equipment and related inventory to field sales and operations teams and retail store
- Client needed to implement consolidated warehouse operations to more efficiently manage associated processes and reduce both Capital and Operating expenses
Approach
- Designed, developed and implemented centralized headend infrastructure to support centralized staging and testing of in-home technology/devices, consolidated warehouse operations and implemented associated processes and testing technologies
- Team of PMs and SMEs worked directly with the client’s field operation teams, HQ teams, and 3rd party technology providers to define requirements and implementation project plans, and execute key deliverables and timelines
Results
- Improved percentage of device generating revenue
- Improved operational performance, driving 31% reduction in device inventory and 23% reduction in operating expense
- Reduced levels of inventory awaiting and in repair
- Improved service quality contributing to lower repeat service calls and in-home installation visits
Customer Operations Efficiency Optimization
Building a next-gen world-class customer care capability to improve cost efficiency and increase customer satisfaction and loyalty
Challenge
- Client’s scale and decentralized structure resulted in highly duplicative operations, sub-optimal efficiency of call handling, high (controllable) repeat call volume and redundant/inefficient staffing methods
- Client wanted to balance the perceived customer experience benefit of local resources, with need to provide expertise and scale
Approach
- Series of initiatives to evaluate contact center operations and staffing methodologies, identify opportunities for cost savings, benchmark best practices and develop business justifications for alternate approaches to drive cost efficiencies
- Executive ‘top priorities’ list of cost efficiency options was developed, and a new ‘Center of Excellence’ call center operations model was defined
- Ran PMO office to operationalize, build, hire train, launch and optimize Centers of Excellence contact center operations
Results
- Center of Excellence facilities now operate far more efficiently and effectively – with improved customer experience
- Center of Excellence structure has improved employee career pathing, job satisfaction and staffing efficiencies
Customer Operations Sales Performance:
Delivering Higher LTV Thru First Time Resolution
Reinventing the customer care model to focus on maximizing Lifetime Value versus pure cost minimization by creating strategic alignment across the cares organization
Challenge
- Client(s) needed to transform its customer care operations to deliver higher quality, problem-resolving interactions
- Goals of improved operating efficiencies and higher lifetime value (LTV):
- Drive efficiency and customer satisfaction thru first call resolution
- Enable care agents to effectively position new products and services
- Deepen customer relationships and drive improved lifetime value
- Maximize opportunities represented by care call volume
Approach
- In-depth discovery and assessment process to identify and prioritize initiatives around 4 central pillars (Align, Measure, Enable & Motivate)
- “Prioritized initiatives were then implemented typically over 1-2 month period to deliver rapid and sustainable care and sales performance improvements in contact centers
- Methodology based on 20+ years of contact channel sales performance work spanning over 30 call center customer care organizations, 400+ retail/service centers, and numerous field operations organizations
Results
- Increase sales rates, revenue per customer and bundled sell-in rates by as much as 2-3x
- Positive impact to cash flow and operating margins within the current fiscal year
- Typical impact: ~$1.1MM in increased LTV per 100K calls handled
Direct Ship / Self-activation Solution for In-home Digital Services
Creating a scalable platform to transform the efficiency, cost-effectiveness and user experience in activating and using in-home digital services
Challenge
- Client spent $50-$100 to set up and activate new digital subscribers and upgrade existing services across more than 10M home visits per year
- High cost and complexity of these customer interactions presented a significant cost barrier to other strategic product initiatives, exposure to contract labor uncertainties and high product/solution delivery costs
Approach
- Managed program concept design, organizational alignment, program operations development, solution deployment, performance measurement and system optimization
- Led comprehensive organizational change process to transform the way the business delivered in-home digital services
- Created nationally centralized and standardized direct-ship self-install program including large-scale centralized and automated systems for order entry, fulfillment, device provisioning and service activation
Results
- Shifted over 10M+ transactions per month to self-install model
- >30% of all connects/upgrades completed by a direct-ship / self-install method
- Drove ~80% operating cost savings per connect/upgrade across all product lines and service packages
- >$100M in typical annual cost savings to the client