Diving Deep with Bob Gold: Using BehavioralRx® to Create a Membership Model for the Bridgeway Every Day Matters Program

BehavioralRx® is the science of personalized patient engagement relating to population health. It is an emerging science that uses proven psychological techniques. The science has proven effective because it leverages emotional attributes and cognition to motivate in-the-moment actions at home, work, and play.

In the specific case of the Bridgeway Personal Concierge™: Every Day Matters program, we have coded methods and algorithms into our cloud-based platform, Concierge Care, and used it to implement a membership program for Bridgeway Rehabilitation Services. Concierge Care personalizes care plans on a large scale; it improves outcomes, reduces cost of care, enhances patient satisfaction, and increases Joy in Practice. Learn more about Concierge Care here.

One of the core principles of BehavioralRx is the concept of the Six I’s of Community Belonging and Development. By following all six I’s, membership is reinforced within the community, whoever one that may be. The Six I’s are generally only applied to physical communities, such as a club or association. BehavioralRx has taken this principle and mapped each of the I’s to a digital-to-human interpretation.

The Six I’s of Community Belonging and Every Day Matters

The first I, introduction, states that “the members of the community must receive a welcome and orientation.”  To associate this to Bridgeway Rehabilitation Services, we created a launch event for the program where members received a membership welcome kit and a few additional tangible items. In this phase, participants must “learn the norms, values and rules” in order to become a member of the community. In the welcome kit norms, values, and rules are clearly articulated in the form of instructions for members.

Second, Interaction is necessary, and “the community must provide opportunities for members to form a bond.” To create interaction, we brought together all of the members of a day program, called the partial care program, at Bridgeway. They came together to make requests and submitted peer stories which are used to help motivate their fellow program members.

Additionally, the members must have the opportunity to Influence the community. It makes them feel important and shows them that their perspectives and opinions are valued. Think of any successful community out there – whether it is a business, friend group, or rehabilitation program – this applies to them all.

With Involvement, members are encouraged to participate as it allows them to recognize that they can have an impact on each other. The members served at Bridgeway may go through many aspects of their life where they don’t feel their perspectives or opinions are valued because they are living with mental illness and therefore can be looked down upon. Even when clinicians do their best to be empathetic, patients may still have those feelings. This membership model requires involvement and therefore helps members feel heard.

Investment is the reflection of psychological ownership that flows from involvement and influence – there’s nothing more powerful than psychological ownership. When the members of a community feel invested, there is three to seven times the amount of reciprocity. Once someone has been a member for a period of time (say 6 months), data will show many more instances of follow-through in messaging because they now understand that we’re providing value to them. They are invested in the group, so they are less skeptical of it. They’re willing to act because this is their program.

By sharing a common purpose, or Identity, community members begin to refer to themselves collectively as “we” and “us.” Reaching the point of identity is the ultimate win in motivation and persuasion. Once community members are able to clearly articulate what being a member means, they are able to better self-manage their care. This adherence to the program occurs when they identify their own brand and persona with the program. This is true with all of us in working in a company. If you are invested, involved, and identify yourself as a part of this group, your day to day satisfaction is much better. So, therefore, in the case of Every Day Matters, members are willing to follow the program.

By constructing the Every Day Matters program to adhere to the Six I’s of Community Belonging and Development, we have created a successful program for members of Bridgeway Rehabilitation Services. During its six-month pilot program, Every Day Matters witnessed impressive results, and the positive impact from the program became evident almost immediately. It has affected everyone involved across the continuum of care, including providers, members. and payors.

Download our white paper, created in collaboration with Bridgeway Rehabilitation Services, entitled, Innovating Mental Healthcare: Leveraging Technology to Enhance Behavioral Health Outcomes.  The paper details Bridgeway’s Personal Concierge™: Every Day Matters program, its effects on the community, and BehavioralRx®, the science used to implement it.