Enroll UX 2014

CMS Releases Model Applications

chf_admin — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 17:23:41 +0000

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has released for comment the long-anticipated “model applications” for individuals and small business (SHOP). Comments on the model applications are due on or about February 28, 2013.

The individual application is the single point of entry to purchase private insurance on the Exchange marketplace and assess eligibility for all insurance affordability programs. The CMS individual application package includes drafts of both the paper and online applications.

Of particular interest to those who have followed the Enroll UX 2014 design effort will be the model online applications, which are shown in two videos with different use cases (a single adult applicant and a family of three with eligibility for different programs). As expected, the federal application leverages the Enroll UX 2014 design elements and is broadly similar in a number of key areas, such as page layout, main navigation placement, enrollment steps and information flow, typography, and button locations.

We are pleased that the Enroll UX 2014 design is proving to be a useful foundation for the federal implementers, as it is for a number of state Exchanges.

PBGH Releases Findings on Plan Choice

chf_admin — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 05:42:23 +0000

With the arrival of the insurance Exchanges, an estimated 22 million people will have the opportunity to choose their coverage through these marketplaces. Unless they have good tools to guide their decisions, many of these consumers may select plans that are not the best match for their medical or financial needs. Exchange leaders have a critical role to play in building tools that will support consumers in their search for high-quality, affordable options that meet their needs.

Through the Helping Vulnerable Consumers in the Exchange Project, the Pacific Business Group on Health (PBGH) has created a set of resources for Exchanges to use as they build decision support tools. The issue briefs and other publications combine evidence from PBGH’s own research on plan choice and the research literature on consumer choice architecture. This work has been supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Interview with Innovators from Oregon

chf_admin — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 21:35:38 +0000

The Children’s Partnership recently published an interview with two administrators of Cover Oregon, Oregon’s Health Exchange, in which they discuss their participation in the Enroll UX 2014 collaborative and their state’s work to customize the design. In Interviews with Innovators from Oregon, Nora Leibowitz, chief of policy, evaluation, and research, and Amy Fauver, deputy director of Oregon’s Exchange, share their insights about how such collaborations have helped put Oregon ahead of the game.

November Spotlight: Maryland and Washington

chf_admin — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 21:20:51 +0000

The design materials continue to be widely accessed, with more than 150 website visits per day over the last few months. Additionally, at least seven states (CA, CO, MD, MN, NY, OR, and WA) and the federal government are leveraging the Enroll UX 2014 design in their Exchange development. Several additional states (IL, NM, TN, and VT) are planning to use the Enroll UX 2014 design specifications to inform their Exchange and/or Medicaid eligibility and enrollment portals, pending final implementation decisions, and other states are also evaluating the design.

Here are updates from two states:

Maryland
Maryland launched the consumer-facing brand for its state-based Exchange for individuals and small businesses, Maryland Health Connection, on August 23. Enroll UX 2014′s user experience design framework informed Maryland Health Connection’s brand platform, and Maryland adapted and extended the Enroll UX 2014 color and typeface specifications as part of brand development. The Enroll UX 2014 design elements are being integrated into the eligibility and enrollment solution through a style guide currently in development that will provide a consistent consumer experience throughout the portal. The consumer campaign to educate individuals and small businesses, promote awareness, and provide consumer assistance will launch in the first quarter of 2013. Presently, the brand microsite provides information for consumers; when enrollment opens in October 2013, it will link to the eligibility and enrollment portal. Maryland staffers are sharing these developments with their Minnesota colleagues, with whom they share several subcontractors (Curam, Connecture, and Engagepoint — Maryland’s prime is Noridian Administrative Services).

Contact: Danielle Davis, director, communications and outreach, Maryland Health Benefit Exchange, 410-358-6044, danielle.davis@maryland.gov

Washington
Enroll UX 2014 has informed Washington’s user interface design as well. As in other states, Washington officials described the design materials as a starting point; as implementation moves ahead, new user flows are being created to reflect Washington state requirements. Two areas where Washington is departing from the design are in anonymous shopping and plan comparison. Washington’s Health Benefit Exchange, branded as Washington Healthplanfinder, is emphasizing anonymous shopping as an entry point, both to educate consumers about the affordability of various options and to encourage applications. The Washington portal will allow people to shop anonymously for plans with estimated costs based on family composition and income, choose a plan, then create an account and apply for coverage. Washington has modified the Enroll UX 2014 design for plan selection, which uses filters and then displays three plans at a time, to include a plan search results page displaying all results before the detailed plan comparison page. Deloitte Consulting is Washington’s systems integrator and GMMB is the contractor for branding and strategic marketing.

Contact: Nelly Kinsella, Communications Associate, Washington Health Benefit Exchange, 360-407-4105

Look for future updates on how the Enroll UX 2014 design is being utilized as states continue to make implementation progress.

Project Deliverable Presentation

chf_admin — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 18:36:16 +0000

This Enroll UX 2014 Project Deliverable Presentation provides a quick overview of the project’s deliverables, and demonstrates features of the Design Reference Prototype.

Plan Choice Research Results Provide Evidence Base for User Experience Design

chf_admin — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 18:39:54 +0000

The Pacific Business Group on Health’s Helping Vulnerable Consumers in the Exchange Project has been developing plan choice decision support rules that exchanges can use to build their consumer choice software rules. These rules are largely based on plan choice research performed by decision science experts at Columbia, Penn, and Stanford Universities. Recent research results suggest that the orientation of the plan comparison display has an impact on users’ plan choice. Specifically, researchers compared a format in which health plans were organized in columns (and plan features in rows) with a format in which plans were organized in rows (and plan features in columns). The plans-as-columns format may make it easier for consumers to compare features across plans and to identify the best plan on any given feature.

Preliminary results indicate that study participants chose higher value plans in the plans-as-columns format. Having plans as columns and features as rows may improve choice efficacy in part by reducing the density of text: feature headings/descriptions can be moved out of the individual plan cells and placed in a legend area. This reduces the amount of text in each cell as well as the amount of text that needs to be repeated across cells. This, in turn, makes similarities and differences across plans easier to identify. It is important to note that this research is preliminary; the plan orientation effect likely depends on several factors, including the order of the plans displayed, the order of the plan features, and the features of the plans displayed. Although preliminary, these results signal that the plan comparison format matters and should be designed with care.

The Enroll UX 2014 design, which includes a plans-as-columns format, was informed by the PBGH research as it emerged. The research provides a growing evidence base for state and federal implementers. For more information about the research, please see www.pbgh.org/news-and-publications/pbgh-articles-a-publications.

UX 2014 Implementation Demonstrated at Medicaid Enterprise Systems Conference

chf_admin — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 18:36:20 +0000

The Medicaid Information Technology Architecture (MITA) Technical Architecture Committee, or MITA TAC, is a collaborative effort to address the technical architecture associated with Medicaid systems of the future. The TAC has been focused on collaboratively implementing a functional demonstration of both front- and back-end technology to accomplish a single, streamlined enrollment process for Exchange and Insurance Affordability Programs in a manner that is aligned with the principles of MITA. The TAC is using the Enroll UX 2014 design as the basis for the user experience portion of this demonstration. The TAC project, Enroll 12, was highlighted at the 2012 Medicaid Enterprise Systems Conference in Boston in August. The demonstration was exhibited and discussed at a panel session, “Enroll 12 – Building a Health Insurance Exchange/Eligibility Determination and Enrollment Solution Aligned with MITA and Human Services.” Jim Jones, consultant to the Enroll UX 2014 project, was among the panelists. This presentation represented the launch of a year-long effort (now called Enroll 13) to refine a quality user experience applicable to Exchanges, Medicaid and Human Services. For more information about the project, please contact Dave Walsh at dwalsh@esrv.com.

Enroll UX 2014 Design Release

chf_admin — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 09:00:33 +0000

On June 8, the Enroll UX 2014 design deliverables were released at a session in San Francisco that was attended by 16 states and CMS. Session participants discussed the design intent, customization options and implementation requirements. Attendees were welcomed by Donna Cohen Ross, Senior Policy Advisor, Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services (CMCS), and were taken through the final Design Reference Prototype and the Design Specifications Manual by IDEO Senior Project Leader Christian Palino.

Project staff led discussion of implementation and customization issues and presented various communications materials intended to promote state adoption of the design. The project deliverables are available here.

Enroll UX 2014 Press Release

CMS on Enroll UX 2014 Design

Health Affairs Blog on Enroll UX 2014

Washington, DC Policy Briefing

chf_admin — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 09:00:04 +0000

On June 18, Enroll America and Enroll UX 2014 co-sponsored a briefing on the project for a Washington policy and industry audience.

Speakers included Tim Hill, Deput Director, Center for Consumer Information & Insurance Oversight (CCIIO); Andrew Hyman, Senior Program Officer, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation; Terri Shaw, UX 2014 Project Director; Richard Fiore, Executive Director, Alabama Health Insurance Exchange; Ruchika Bajaj, Division of Health Reform and Health Insurance Exchange Integration, New York State Department of Health; and Rachel Klein, Executive Director, Enroll America.

Read more about the event on Enroll America’s blog, and check back for video of the event.

Design Refinement

chf_admin — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 21:20:19 +0000

On January 30-31, 2012 a successful Design Refinement Workshop was held in San Francisco to gather feedback on key eligibility and plan selection design interactions and the preliminary visual design. Some 90 representatives from CMS and 18 states actively participated in the workshop. A Design Evaluation Prototype was developed to provide workshop participants with a tool to review the application flow, design elements and interactions, and to provide input on whether the design elements are scalable, flexible and configurable. Feedback from the workshop is being synthesized to inform the design, as the project transitions into design refinement and production of deliverables.

An updated Enroll UX 2014 Overview presentation is available here. It includes the latest status of the project, highlights from each of the design phases, insights from user evaluations, images from the preliminary visual design and a detailed description of project deliverables.