At Rally®, we’ve always prided ourselves on helping people improve their health by encouraging simple changes. Over the years, we’ve built a diverse array of programs designed to help people improve their health or find, price, and schedule their health care. Our ability to help users across every facet of health is a major point of pride for us.
But recently, we took our obsession with simplicity to a new level by choosing to expand and upgrade our offering. Basically, we set out to find a way to bring our powerful tools together into one comprehensive and seamless solution, fueled by intuitive design.
Simplicity and appealing aesthetics are, of course, important in their own right — but we also have a deeper “why” behind our drive to unify the Rally experience. When people have health and wellness benefits spread out over multiple websites and apps, it’s easy to get overwhelmed and disengage — or miss a benefit entirely. They might sign in and look for a doctor, but if that tool isn’t integrated with their wellness benefits, they’ll miss a relevant program — one that can help them stop smoking or lose weight, for instance. And that means missing a lot of opportunities. On the cost side, they might not realize how much money they can save by getting that MRI® at one place instead of another — savings they’d be happy to have, if they’d only had the price comparisons ahead of time.
On the other hand, when people know they can access their entire benefits ecosystem with one simple login, they feel taken care of. They’re more likely to engage deeply with their own health and care, because they’re empowered by these comprehensive and seamless tools. Which is why we’re so excited about the Next-Gen Rally platform.
When we set out on this journey, we had a rough idea of what success would look like: a platform with excellent behind-the-scenes plumbing that makes access frictionless for consumers so they actually want to engage with it — and make better and more cost-effective health decisions.
Today’s digital health tools can be clunky and confusing, and while consumers might not be able to articulate exactly what they want in a digital health tool, they know it’s not these. So we looked at health care industry best practices, but also beyond that, looking at how groundbreaking digital tools in transportation, entertainment, and housing build a consumer-centric, comprehensive user experience. In other words, rather than iterating on the ho-hum examples that are already out there, we drew on consumer behavior, health data, and design practices to design the very best thing possible. And in granting ourselves the freedom to make something totally new, we created an experience that actually helps people in their day-to-day life, rather than adding stress or frustration.
What does this solution look like? First of all, it’s the same offering for employees, regardless of location or insurer. It has a robust, cross-carrier ability to find providers, which spans medical, mental health, dental, vision and pharmacy offerings. And because collaboration is part of our design DNA, we’re able to integrate every health and wellness benefit an employer may offer. The experience allows people to do everything in one place: schedule an appointment, check pricing, review claims, and pay bills.
There’s also a set of missions and challenges, including both wellness (walking three miles a day or focusing on fruits and veggies) and clinical (avoiding asthma triggers or testing glucose levels). And, when those health or care actions are complete, there’s a robust rewards platform to celebrate and keep the momentum going. If, while you’re tracking your accomplishments, you realize you’re ready for a new challenge, you can sign up for a peer-to-peer community dedicated to, say, weight loss.
Users can also access any program an employer offers, from diabetes management tools to weight-loss programs and wellness coaching. You can also sign up for a biometric screening or check in with a wellness coach. Employers can even connect their workers’ care with customized incentives to close their care gaps. That might mean, say, giving an employee an Amazon gift card when she schedules a mammogram.
In the future, employees will have even more personalized recommendations based on data that’s integrated from their insurance records and layered on top of self-reported data.
Together, these comprehensive offerings help engage users and invite them into the virtuous circle that creates consistent good health. In his best-selling book “Eat Move Sleep,” author Tom Rath wrote about how small choices create major change. As Rath notes, every tiny step toward healthier eating, more movement, and better sleep has the power to change your life.
At Rally, we’ve taken that mission of incremental change and built a world-class experience around it. By offering a comprehensive, seamless navigation tool that links medical care to wellness habits and support, we can help users realize their very best selves — with the financial know-how they need to make decisions without distress. In today’s age, that’s a radical act.
