In an earlier article, we already told you about the annual research that WUA conducted in November on online orientation for health insurance among 1000 consumers. In that article, we wrote that it's important for consumers to be able to easily compare the various supplementary insurance products offered.
Viewing supplementary insurance on smartphone
From the article about viewing supplementary insurance on a smartphone, it was already clear that consumers regularly struggle to see the forest for the trees. The enormous range of supplementary insurance products, the exotic names, and the many details about what is and isn't covered: it ensures that consumers regularly lose their way. Which supplementary insurance fits me best?
A small smartphone screen versus a large desktop screen
Ok, such a small smartphone screen naturally brings an extra challenge. Consumers surely don't have this problem when they visit a health insurer's website with their desktop, right? Unfortunately, this proves disappointing in practice. From the findings of the research participants, it appears that even on desktop, it's not always easy to find a supplementary insurance that fits well with a consumer's personal situation.
Three inspiring examples
How can health insurers ensure that consumers more easily find their way through all those insurance products? What makes one website in the health insurance market succeed better than another? In this article, we give three inspiring examples. We didn't just randomly choose these: they are the websites of health insurers that achieved the highest scores on the theme of Offering on the statement 'I am well helped in making a choice from the offering.'
1. The choice tool of DSW.nl
DSW.nl also scores highest in this Health Insurance research when it comes to consumers who could find all necessary information to make a choice. DSW.nl shows a complete overview of the various supplementary insurance products directly on their homepage. Because the various names ('AV-Compact', 'AV-top', etc.) won't immediately ring a bell for all visitors, DSW.nl shows a clearly visible 'Help me choose' button directly under the row of supplementary insurance products. This leads consumers to an effective, cleverly designed choice guide page. The page shows consumers in three clear steps a supplementary insurance that best fits the consumer's personal situation. Consumers are very charmed by this: "They immediately ask if I need help." and "Clear comparison material for supplementary insurance."
Screenshot DSW.nl: homepage with 'Help me choose' entry
Screenshot DSW.nl: Choice tool – questioning personal situation
Screenshot DSW.nl: Choice tool – result page
Read also this BEST PRACTICE: What you can learn from DeFriesland.nl: Fast riser in the WUA Health Insurance research
2. ZorgKiezer.nl lets a specialist speak
ZorgKiezer.nl also knows how to put itself in the consumer's situation. In a number of clear and organized steps, the consumer is asked to indicate their preferences in the 'Your wishes' block. These are choices regarding freedom of choice, physiotherapy, and dentist. For each option, a health insurance specialist from ZorgKiezer.nl briefly indicates in which situation it's handy to choose a particular option. At the end, one can still choose additional extra coverage that ZorgKiezer.nl should take into account when presenting the offering. Think, for example, of glasses and contact lenses, or alternative medicine.
When indicating wishes, consumers can return to a previous option at any desired moment to possibly view or change it again. The striking orange 'continue' button leads consumers intuitively to the next step. What do consumers think of it? "Nice that you can choose certain things in advance," says one. "Choices based on personal circumstances," finds another. "Clear, organized, you immediately know what's intended," reports a third research participant.
Screenshot Zorgkiezer.nl: Your wishes
Read also this BEST PRACTICE: What you can learn from DeFriesland.nl: Fast riser in the WUA Health Insurance research
Example 3: Independer.nl
The third and final example comes from Independer.nl. Consumers who haven't figured out what they want are also clearly guided here. A barely missable 'Hard to choose?' block leads the consumer to a sliding choice tool where one can indicate what they need based on 6 topics.
As soon as the consumer makes a choice (for example, for the statement 'Do you sometimes visit the physiotherapist' chooses the answer 'Yes, but I haven't been there in recent years') Dianne, an Independer employee, appears on screen who immediately gives advice about the supplementary insurance to take. In this example, she advises not to insure physiotherapy and tells what the costs are if one would still visit the physiotherapist.
This well-functioning and personally approached choice tool also catches respondents' attention:
"Nice to see employees, very clear what this company has to offer, striking texts."
"Easy to indicate your preferences regarding supplementary insurance."
Screenshot Independer.nl: Help me choose
Screenshot Independer.nl: Choice tool
Did you notice something about the examples?
The attentive reader probably already saw it. Two of the three mentioned examples are websites of comparison sites and not of health insurers themselves. That means only one thing: health insurers can still take steps when it comes to better facilitating their website visitors in making a suitable choice!
