The statement, “It is not what you know, but who you know,” rings true for Star Ratings leaders seeking improvement at their health plans. If we truly understand how we complete our daily work, we must rely on others to help us get the job done. Over the past 14 years, I have watched people build their network to include those who they can talk with about improving their Star Ratings. Early on, most plans were skeptical to talk to other plans when building their Star Rating framework. Many thought they had the “secret sauce” to secure high ratings for their plan, thus sharing insight and information was proprietary.
However, I have seen a mindset shift. Today more plans are collaborating and sharing best practices and strategy with Star leaders in other organizations. Plans now realize that working together can benefit their plan and other plans they collaborate with on a frequent basis. Star leaders are building networks of other Star leaders to share ideas, discuss vendor solutions, and identify best practices that could be implemented broadly and improve their Star Ratings.
How to Establish Your Stars Network
In the digital world, networking is more difficult due to lack of face-to-face interaction. However, there are a few steps you can take to build your network and find others to collaborate with on a frequent basis.
- Start with intentional LinkedIn outreach and find a small group that you make time to connect with on a regular basis. Maybe you call them your “5-Star Friends.”
- With the pandemic behind us, work with your plan’s leadership to attend a couple of in-person events each year. By attending these in-person events, you can dig deeper into issues and your most pressing needs.
- Join a community in your area of expertise or build one yourself to have frequent and transparent discussions with others in similar roles related to improving your plan’s Star Rating.
- Never be afraid to ask for help. All Star leaders are sitting in the same seat, and many are open to sharing the vulnerability they feel with the weight of the Star Ratings on their shoulders.
- Networking can also happen within your organization. Ask your human resources department if you can be assigned a mentor to help you grow in your role, but also provide you with insight from someone in a higher-level role in the organization on what it takes to grow your career.
- Be open when building your network. The world of healthcare is small when you begin to build your connections. You will find that most are open to helping you find the information you need, just by asking.
Connection is Crucial for Success
For many years, Star Rating conferences were the only way to learn what other plans were doing to drive improvement for their plan. However, many would find the conferences to be vague and high-level, with limited detail on what it would take to implement initiatives.
At the 2023 Medicare Stars, HEDIS(R), Quality & Risk conference, I had to opportunity to co-facilitate a pre-conference workshop addressing the multitude of changes coming to the Star Rating program. These workshops were made available to health plans and would allow the plans to come together and collaborate and problem solve together. The energy in the room could be felt. The anxiety related to the robust changes was evident on each face.
As part of the Healthmine pre-conference workshop, the room was divided into groups to identify a problem impacting Star performance and work together to find solutions. The people gathered at each table were from various size plans, but all there for the same reason – to learn how to implement all these changes and be successful.
Star leaders in health plans must build their professional network with other Star leaders. Having a strong network to send a quick message about a barrier you are facing, or even gathering their thoughts on an issue is beneficial.
Building your network will take time and focus, but the return on your investment of time will allow you to be more successful in your role and learn new ideas to drive your Star Ratings. As Melissa Smith, Chief Consulting Officer, likes to say, “There are enough members to go around, so we must work together to ensure each one receives the best care possible and drive a positive experience for each.” The secret sauce to improving your Star Ratings is to surround yourself with the best people in the industry.
Healthmine works with Medicare Advantage plans of all sizes to improve their Star Ratings. If you need help taking your Star Ratings approach to the next level and build on creative ideas, contact me at John.Willis@Healthmine.com.