do us health providers use consistent terminology? | clarity grader

Do US Health Providers useConsistent Terminology?

Is plan terminology on provider websites consistent as mandated by the Affordable Care Act (ACA) ?

Fergal McGovern CEO, Clarity Grader

Why look at US Health Providers ?

The Affordable Care act mandates Consistent terminology:

• To make health insurance policies easier to understand, compare and accessible to all.

• Sec. 2715. Development and utilization of uniform explanation of coverage documents and standardized definitions.

• “(A) uniform definitions of standard insurance terms and medical terms (consistent with subsection (g)) so that consumers may compare health insurance coverage and understand the terms of coverage (or exception to such coverage);”

http://beta.congress.gov/111/plaws/publ148/111publ148_html.htmhttp://www.hhs.gov/opa/affordable-care-act/index.html

Like food labelling, in Health Care; Standardized terms make sense

• Easy to understand - Easy to compare

• Same for health care, consistent terms – for example; ‘copayment’, ‘coinsurance’ make choosing and comparing plans much easier

We looked at the top 8 US health providers websites

1. Unitedhealth Group

2. Wellpoint Inc. Group

3. Kaiser Foundation Group

4. Aetna Group

5. Humana Group

6. HCSC Group

7. Coventry Corp. Group

8. Highmark Group

The providers are ranked by their placement in the “Top 25 Health Insurance Companies” list with data

from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.

We analyzed up to 1000 pages per site using Clarity Grader

• Set scan to analyze up to 1000 pages. Start at root URL, following site links

• Did not crawl across domains

• Scan conducted in same week – 12th August 2013

We tested variations of ‘copayment’ & ‘coinsurance’

We created a very simple dictionary for Bad keywords

around ‘copayment’ and ‘coinsurance’. Bad terms in this

context are variations that may confuse the reader or are

not easily found; ‘co-pay’, ‘copay’ etc.

7

Inconsistent variations of ‘copayment’ and ‘coinsurance’

Inconsistent terminology is present in 6 out of the 8 top

US Health Insurance Companies.Takeaway:

Each column is a health provider website scan

The numbers show the frequency of occurrence

The inconsistent

terms

Humana Group

Humana have one of the highest counts ofinconsistent terminologyusage, using 5 different inconsistent terms.

Aetna is the most inconsistent provider with 105 occurances.

Inconsistent terminology was found on 7.3% of all of the pages we scanned.

Aetna Group

The most Inconsistent Providers

Aetna – Example content

On just one page, variants of ‘coinsurance’ and ‘copayment’

inconsistently used 8 times with four different terms.Takeaway:

Why check for Inconsistent Terminology in Web Content ?

• Inconsistent terminology makes it harder for potential and current

customers to search for your company or it’s products.

• People searching for key terms may be confused and may not engage

with your company.

• Your SEO keyword strategy may be diluted.

• Your content may not align with Brand/Corporate

Standards, especially for product names and approved/disapproved

terms.

and for Health Care providers…, even more important

• Regulatory driver – ACA (Affordable Care Act)

• Deadline 2014. Open market place Oct 1, 2013.

• People need to be able to compare easily.

• They will go to insurers web pages to find answers

• 6 / 8 of the Insurance Companies we looked at do not have consistent

terminology as defined within the Affordable Care Act.

Worried about Clarity or Inconsistency on your site?

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