What is Customer Communications Management (CCM)?

Customer communications management (CCM) is a defined strategy that focuses on creating, delivering, storing, managing, and retrieving customer communications.

Why is Customer Communications Management Important to Your Business?

Customer retention is one reason customer communications management is essential to your business. You’ll discover, however, that CCM is critical to your business for many reasons.

How can I Improve Customer Communications Management?

Start with these five easy-to-address ways to improve your customer communications management highlighted in this guide.

What is a CCM approach?

A customer communications management approach requires organizations to direct and optimize all customer communications, so they are consistent, efficient, and personalized.

CCM tools are software solutions designed to manage, automate, and optimize the creation, delivery, and storage of customer communications across channels. These tools ensure businesses deliver consistent communications that are personalized, timely and enhance the customer experience.

What is the difference between CCM and CRM?

Customer communications management (CCM) and customer relationship management (CRM) serve two different business purposes but are complementary to each other. CCM refers to the creation, delivery, and management of personalized communications across channels like statements, invoices, emails, text messages, and other marketing materials. CRM is the broader strategy and technology aimed at improving relationships, retention, and sales. It’s used to manage and analyse customer interactions and data throughout the customer lifecycle.

What's the connection between CCM and customer service?

CCM and customer service share a common goal: to enhance customer interactions and satisfaction. With effective CCM, you empower customer service. Communication is clear, accurate, and supports your customers’ needs because it reduces misunderstandings and improves resolution times.

A Practical Guide for Ways to Improve Communication in Healthcare

The key to achieving better health outcomes and strong member and patient engagement begins with good communication.

Good communication is the foundation for better health outcomes and stronger, member and patient-centered experiences. It serves as the connective tissue uniting healthcare organizations, plan providers, teams, administrators, and their partners. When communication falters, whether internally or externally, it can have negative consequences for everyone involved.

There are several ways to improve communications in healthcare, but we must first explore and understand the barriers preventing the flow of information between all parties.

What’s Inside:

Why is Communication in Healthcare so important?

Roadblocks to Communication in Healthcare in 2025

Top 7 Ways to Improve Communications in Healthcare

Give it Structure: The Right Tools and Technology to Transform Communications

Improving Communications for Better Health Outcomes.

Managed Print Service vs Outsourcing FAQ

Why is Communication in Healthcare so important?

When healthcare plan providers and healthcare professionals engage through thoughtful, clear dialogue, they create an environment where members and patients feel empowered to take control of their healthcare journey.

Poor communication can create unnecessary breakdowns in the provider-member or healthcare professional-patient relationship, leading to disengagement and medical errors that could result in poor health outcomes.

Download the Doxim CCM Print Communications

Roadblocks to Communication in Healthcare in 2025

Knowing the barriers that members and patients face can offer invaluable insights for health plan providers.

Fragmented systems: Many healthcare organizations operate with disjointed communication channels that create inconsistent experiences. This leads to inefficiencies in administration and delivery and potentially puts members or patients at risk of receiving conflicting messages.
Complex terminology: Jargon can hinder a member or patient’s ability to understand their plan or diagnosis. It can be intimidating, confusing, and prevents an open dialogue.
Outdated systems: Healthcare organizations struggling with outdated technology and workflows cannot meet evolving expectations. This can lead to frustration and potential delays in accessing care.
Overly restrictive information-sharing: While protecting member information remains paramount, overly cautious interpretation of privacy regulations can create unnecessary communication barriers. Organizations may restrict information sharing beyond what regulations actually require, limiting their ability to provide comprehensive support.
Poor verbal and non-verbal communication skills: Communication style has the potential to shape the quality-of-care members and patients receive. A lack of eye contact, negative dialogue, or disengagement can jeopardize the relationship. Patients and members should feel comfortable expressing their health concerns from the beginning of treatment so there are no surprises down the road.

Plan providers and healthcare organizations must recognize that every interaction is an opportunity to build trust with their members or patients. When communication standards are upheld, providers are better positioned to deliver member and patient-first experiences that prioritize their health goals.

Curious to learn more? Check out the Top Trends in Healthcare Communications for 2025.

Get in Touch

Top 7 Ways to Improve Communications in Healthcare

Communication is at the heart of better health outcomes. Follow these tips to meet your members where they are and build stronger connections.

1. Lean into Digital Transformation

The digitization of communication systems and workflows can equip healthcare plan providers with data concerning their members’ preferences, such as whether they prefer text communications over mail. Having this data ensures providers are better equipped to make the right call when determining what to include in their communications, and how best to reach their members.

2. Bring Your Communications into 2025: Create an Omnichannel Approach

Creating cohesive messaging across all member touchpoints builds credibility and reduces confusion about your offering. Whether members interact with you by email or phone, they should experience consistent messaging and service quality across all channels.

3. Streamline Your Communications

Efficient internal workflows enable effective communication. When health plan team members can access complete member information quickly and share updates seamlessly, they can respond to member needs more effectively. Streamlined processes also reduce stress among plan administrators and members, leading to more positive two-way interactions.

4. Achieve Security & Compliance

Healthcare communications are subject to strict regulatory standards, including HIPAA and state-specific insurance regulations. Protecting sensitive health information requires secure data management and adherence to privacy protocols. By embedding compliance into all aspects of the communication ecosystem, plan providers can build trust while maintaining regulatory compliance.

5. Use Plain Language: Be Mindful of Your Audience

According to the CDC, “plain language makes it easier for everyone to understand and use health information”. Clear, concise language enables members to make informed decisions about their health, regardless of their literacy level. Following plain language best practices can mitigate confusion when members read through materials or interact with you online or over the phone.

6. Provide Educational Support

Can your members troubleshoot login issues before contacting customer support? Are they equipped with the right steps to obtain a new ID card? Your communication materials play an essential role in mitigating member frustration while interacting with your tools and resources. Providing the right information upfront can save you and your members down the line.

7. Focus on the Relevant Details

When members receive the right information at the right time, they feel more supported and confident about managing their health. Using tools like AI, plan providers can create hyper-personalized experiences that reflect each member’s unique needs – whether it’s an appointment reminder or tailored wellness tips that keep them on track to meet their health goals.

Want to know more about delivering an attractive, high quality welcome kit?

Get in Touch

Give it Structure: The Right Tools and Technology to Transform Communications

Knowing how to effectively communicate with your members is just the start. By integrating the right tools, you can take your communications to the next level, creating systems that allow you to get the most of your communication efforts.

And it starts with one of your earliest member interactions — the welcome kit.

Create a Lasting Impression with a Personalized Welcome Kit

A welcome kit includes personalized information like plans, benefits, and services, and even a personal ID card. It can also offer relevant educational content, like health management tips to mitigate complications.

But how do plan providers collect the information required to achieve the level of personalization that members expect while executing their omnichannel strategy?

Invest in Customer Communication Management (CCM) Solutions

A customer communication management platform provides a singular location to securely store data and deliver personalized member communications with efficiency and precision.
For example, if a new regulation comes into effect, you can deploy updates across all channels simultaneously, including welcome kits with regulated materials. If you need to communicate policy updates within a specific timeframe, a CCM solution allows you to reach your audience with expediency.

Leveraging Digital Transformation for Healthcare Organizations

There’s also the benefit of digital adoption, a growing expectation among members regardless of the service with which they’re engaging and utilizing.

When you give your members options, they feel seen, ultimately improving engagement. And it comes with cost savings too. One of our clients saw a 28% reduction in costs from only a 25% adoption of e-statements solutions.

Improving Communications for Better Health Outcomes.

The communications landscape is shifting toward an increasingly customer-centric approach. It’s time to explore ways to improve healthcare dialogue through digital transformation technologies, creating accessible member experiences, and offering omnichannel communications that meet your members where they are.

FAQ

What are ways to improve healthcare communications?

Lean into digital transformation and adopt an omnichannel approach to ensure clarity across all communication channels, while maintaining strong security and compliance standards. Use plain language that is inclusive and easy to understand, offer educational support, and focus on details that matter most to your patients or members.

What are common communication barriers in healthcare?

Barriers in healthcare include fragmented systems that create communication silos. Outdated systems can contribute to poor experiences, while overly restrictive information-sharing can limit transparency. And finally, poor verbal and non-verbal communication can lead to disengagement between all parties.

Why is good communication important in healthcare?

When communication breaks down, it can lead to medical errors and erode trust. Good communication leads to better health outcomes, fosters stronger member and patient-centered experiences, and strengthens collaboration amongst an organization’s teams.

Why is plain language important in healthcare communications?

Plain language helps members and patients, regardless of their literacy level, understand all regulatory and educational materials, and help them to make informed decisions about their health.

How does education support health plan members?

Members feel more in control of their health when they can easily access the information they need. Whether it’s a personalized welcome kit, or tailored wellness tips, it’s essential that healthcare plan providers deliver timely, relevant information that supports each member’s goals.