Deloitte
  • Services

    What's New

    • Ignored to J’ Adored

      How Deloitte helped a large fast food company become a leader in sustainability

    • Deloitte Private

      Connecting you to what matters

    • Compromised to Immune

      An Initial Public Offering can take years. We only had weeks

    • Audit & Assurance

      • IASPlus
      • Assurance Services
      • Accounting & Reporting Advisory
      • Accounting Operations Advisory
      • Disruptive Events Advisory
      • Media & Advertising Assurance
      • Global Public Policy
    • Consulting

      • Strategy, Analytics and M&A
      • Customer and Marketing
      • Core Business Operations
      • Human Capital
      • Enterprise Technology & Performance
    • Risk Advisory

      • Accounting and Internal Controls
      • Cyber and Strategic Risk
      • Regulatory and Legal
      • Sustainability & Climate
    • Financial Advisory

      • Mergers & Acquisitions
      • Turnaround & Restructuring
      • Deloitte Forensic
    • Legal

      • Legal Management Consulting
      • Legal Advisory Services
      • Legal Managed Services
      • Dbriefs Legal
      • Deloitte Legal Around the World
      • The Resilient General Counsel
    • Tax

      • Advisory and Transactions
      • Workforce, Technology, Analytics
      • Outsourced Compliance
      • Technology Consulting
      • Mobility, Payroll, Immigration
      • Reward, Employment Tax, Share Plans
  • Industries

    What's New

    • Connecting for a resilient world

    • Future of Mobility

      Learn how this new reality is coming together and what it will mean for you and your industry.

    • Platforms and Ecosystems

      Enabling the Digital Economy

    • Consumer

      • Automotive
      • Consumer Products
      • Retail, Wholesale & Distribution
      • Transportation, Hospitality & Services
    • Energy, Resources & Industrials

      • Industrial Products & Construction
      • Mining & Metals
      • Oil, Gas & Chemicals
      • Power, Utilities & Renewables
      • The Future of Energy
    • Financial Services

      • Banking & Capital Markets
      • Insurance
      • Investment Management
      • Real Estate
    • Government & Public Services

      • Central Government
      • Defense, Security & Justice
      • Health & Human Services
      • Infrastructure, Transport & Regional Government
    • Life Sciences & Health Care

      • Health Care
      • Life Sciences
    • Technology, Media & Telecommunications

      • Technology
      • Telecommunications, Media & Entertainment
  • Insights

    Deloitte Insights

    What's New

    • Deloitte Insights Magazine

      Explore the latest issue now

    • Deloitte Insights app

      Go straight to smart with daily updates on your mobile device

    • Weekly economic update

      See what's happening this week and the impact on your business

    • Strategy

      • Business Strategy & Growth
      • Digital Transformation
      • Governance & Board
      • Innovation
      • Marketing & Sales
      • Private Enterprise
    • Economy & Society

      • Economy
      • Environmental, Social, & Governance
      • Health Equity
      • Trust
      • Mobility
    • Organization

      • Operations
      • Finance & Tax
      • Risk & Regulation
      • Supply Chain
      • Smart Manufacturing
    • People

      • Leadership
      • Talent & Work
      • Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion
    • Technology

      • Data & Analytics
      • Emerging Technologies
      • Technology Management
    • Industries

      • Consumer
      • Energy, Resources, & Industrials
      • Financial Services
      • Government & Public Services
      • Life Sciences & Health Care
      • Technology, Media, & Telecommunications
    • Spotlight

      • Deloitte Insights Magazine
      • Press Room Podcasts
      • Weekly Economic Update
      • COVID-19
      • Resilience
  • Careers

    What's New

    • WorldImpact

      Living our purpose, reshaping our world, making an impact that matters.

    • 2022 Gen Z and Millennial Survey

      Striving for balance, advocating for change

    • Alumni profiles

      Inspiring leaders

    • Job search

    • Experienced hires

    • Students

    • Life at Deloitte

    • Inclusion at Deloitte

    • Alumni

  • GLOBAL-EN Location: GLOBAL-English  
  • Contact us
  • GLOBAL-EN Location: GLOBAL-English  
  • Contact us

Welcome back

Still not a member? Join My Deloitte

Unlocking “household DNA” to deliver a personalized customer experience in health and human services

by Rachel Frey
  • Save for later
  • Download
  • Share
    • Share on Facebook
    • Share on Twitter
    • Share on Linkedin
    • Share by email
Deloitte Insights
  • Strategy
    Strategy
    Strategy
    • Business Strategy & Growth
    • Digital Transformation
    • Governance & Board
    • Innovation
    • Marketing & Sales
    • Private Enterprise
  • Economy & Society
    Economy & Society
    Economy & Society
    • Economy
    • Environmental, Social, & Governance
    • Health Equity
    • Trust
    • Mobility
  • Organization
    Organization
    Organization
    • Operations
    • Finance & Tax
    • Risk & Regulation
    • Supply Chain
    • Smart Manufacturing
  • People
    People
    People
    • Leadership
    • Talent & Work
    • Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion
  • Technology
    Technology
    Technology
    • Data & Analytics
    • Emerging Technologies
    • Technology Management
  • Industries
    Industries
    Industries
    • Consumer
    • Energy, Resources, & Industrials
    • Financial Services
    • Government & Public Services
    • Life Sciences & Health Care
    • Tech, Media, & Telecom
  • Spotlight
    Spotlight
    Spotlight
    • Deloitte Insights Magazine
    • Press Room Podcasts
    • Weekly Economic Update
    • COVID-19
    • Resilience
    • GLOBAL-EN Location: GLOBAL-English  
    • Contact us
    7 minute read 30 October 2019

    Unlocking “household DNA” to deliver a personalized customer experience in health and human services The value of segmentation

    7 minute read 31 October 2019
    • Rachel Frey United States
    • Save for later
    • Download
    • Share
      • Share on Facebook
      • Share on Twitter
      • Share on Linkedin
      • Share by email
    • Exposing individual and household DNA
    • Segmenting customers with DNA commonalities
    • Getting started

    ​As health and human service agencies strive to deliver personalized yet cost-effective services, a concept called household DNA can help by providing deeper insight into different customer groups.

    We all have a unique combination of characteristics that makes us individuals: our employment history, financial circumstances, and educational background, among other things. The environment in which we live, where we live, and with whom we live further shapes us as individuals. Moreover, we exhibit specific behaviors in our reactions to different situations. Taken together, these characteristics and dispositions make up a kind of distinct profile that we call “household DNA.”

    Learn more

    Explore the HHS Innovator's Playbook

    Dive into the Government and public services collection

    Subscribe to receive related content from Deloitte Insights

    Download the Deloitte Insights and Dow Jones app

    Delivering personalized, outcome-based services that aren’t cost-prohibitive has long been the holy grail in health and human services (H/HS). With the adoption of efforts such as real-time eligibility and mobile applications, increases in home placements and care, and the never-ending need to do more with less, face-to-face interactions with clients have been declining. These changes are driving H/HS agencies to rely more heavily on digitized information and, even more so, on client and household insights from what clients and other sources provide. With the growth and availability of data, we have entered a period in which agencies are able to utilize an individual’s or household’s DNA to help provide personalized customer experiences.

    Exposing individual and household DNA

    Take the case of Jennifer, for example. When Jennifer requests services, a lot of what we know about her and her household stems from what she has reported. Her application data may be augmented with data from other state, federal, third-party sources, or anywhere she may have left a digital footprint. While agencies may capture Jennifer’s data in a way that supports speed and accuracy, the data is not always presented in a way that easily exposes her individual or household DNA.

    With this initial set of data the agency captured, what does it know about Jennifer’s DNA? Is she working? If she is, for how many hours? Is someone in the house receiving child support? Have people moved in and out of the house? Are there income fluctuations or personal safety issues? Are the kids in school full time? What about how Jennifer completed the application—did she enter her answers quickly, change her responses to certain questions, or complete it in a certain location or at a certain point in the day? While aggregating this data may move us closer to a 360-degree view of Jennifer, it doesn’t go far enough. It stops short of providing much-needed guidance for what services and types of interactions are likely to have the most impact for Jennifer and her household, based on her DNA. It also does not indicate what parts of her DNA matter the most for her current situation and the future.

    Segmenting customers with DNA commonalities

    While each of us has our own unique DNA profile, we also share commonalities with others at different points in our lives. Commonalities may stem from financial or nonfinancial characteristics, how individuals interact with agencies, and other lifestyle behaviors. Some of these change over an individual’s lifetime while others remain constant. By grouping clients according to their individual or household DNA commonalities, distinct clusters or segments emerge. These customer segments offer agencies insight into distinct attributes of the different customer groups they serve. They can use these insights to determine individual service needs based on the desired outcome and the most effective method and frequency of communication. More broadly, segmentation can help them better understand the needs of the population that they serve and how those needs and preferences may evolve over time.

    How might this apply to Jennifer? In her 18th month of assistance, Jennifer reports that her employer has reduced her hours by 10 hours a week and her husband has moved out. How has Jennifer’s DNA changed? How does she align with the individual and household DNA segments based on her latest changes? Going beyond her current circumstances, what specific services and interactions have helped people like Jennifer increase their employment hours and overall financial health, and improve their family situation? By isolating discrete events from the cohort group, agencies can identify and recommend the services that have successfully worked in the past for individuals with DNA similar to Jennifer.

    Getting started

    When getting started with segmentation, it’s important to keep the old maxim “Don’t let perfect be the enemy of the good” in mind.

    Selecting where the data should come from invariably raises questions about data quality, completeness, and accuracy. While many struggle to get over this hurdle, data does not need to be perfect and complete.

    Agencies can narrow their data needs for creating the DNA segments by starting with a small population based on a focused business need, such as fostering financial independence. To address this topic, teams may identify potential characteristics that impact financial self-sufficiency, such as income (both type and amount), income fluctuations, time on assistance, assistance needed, household composition, and geography. By selecting those individuals that have achieved financial self-sufficiency, agencies can explore the characteristics that had the most influence on that outcome. As common characteristics start to emerge, agencies can uncover individual DNA segments across the population of individuals that are financially self-sufficient.

    With an initial set of DNA segments that group the population according to financial factors that support self-sufficiency, how can agencies use that information to change the way they serve clients? In other words, if Jennifer walks in tomorrow to request services, what could we do differently to personalize her experience based on what the data tells us about people like Jennifer who have successfully achieved financial self-sufficiency? By looking at Jennifer’s DNA and what has worked for others with a similar profile who have gone on to achieve financial self-sufficiency, agencies can tailor the services and supports they deliver and the way in which they are delivered, to effectively personalize Jennifer’s experience. So, the communications Jennifer receives through the customer contact center, in addition to SMS and text messages, along with the frequency of the communications, can all be personalized using her DNA.

    It’s important to note that segmentation is not a one-time exercise. As new program data becomes available and new data sources introduced, DNA characteristics may expand. This requires ongoing refinement to understand which characteristics truly differentiate the DNA segments, while still keeping the number of characteristics manageable. It’s also important to recognize that as individuals change over time, so must their individual and household DNA profiles. Personalization, then, cannot be a one-time effort, but rather an ongoing exercise to be effective.

    Acknowledgments

    Cover image by: Alex Nabaum

    Topics in this article

    Government , Public Sector , Customer Service

    Health and Human Services

    For more than 45 years, Deloitte state health and human services professionals have worked side by side with state agencies. Our mission is to help you achieve your mission—protecting and improving the health, safety, and wellbeing of our fellow citizens. We are focused on helping you improve the efficiency, effectiveness, and accountability of state services and benefits. Our breadth of offerings includes: eligibility and service integration, state health care, child welfare, childcare and early learning, and many others.

    Learn more
    Get in touch
    Contact
    • Rachel Frey
    • Principal
    • Deloitte Consulting LLP
    • rfrey@deloitte.com
    • +1 916 288 3972

    Download Subscribe

    Health and Human Services innovations and reform

    img Trending

    Transformational health and human services

    Article 2 years ago
    img Trending

    Beyond case management

    Article 2 years ago
    img Trending

    The case for a youth portal

    Article 2 years ago
    img Trending

    Elevating the human experience

    Article 2 years ago

    Learn more about Health and Human Services innovations and reform

    • AI-augmented human services Article2 years ago
    • Charting new pathways Article2 years ago
    • Mindful Medicaid Article5 years ago
    • Next gen child support Article5 years ago
    • The HHS Innovator's Playbook Collection
    • Government and Public Services Collection
    Rachel Frey

    Rachel Frey

    Principal | Public Sector – State Government

    Rachel is a principal in Deloitte Consulting LLP's State Government Health and Human Services practice. For the past 15 years, she has worked with state and local government agencies defining approaches and implementing business and technology solutions to enhance service delivery; prevent and detect fraud, waste, and abuse; streamline business operations; refine organizational structures; and evaluate policies that drive these efforts. Rachel has a master's degree in public policy and management from the Heinz School at Carnegie Mellon and currently leads Deloitte’s Human Services Analytics solution offerings.

    • rfrey@deloitte.com
    • +1 916 288 3972

    Share article highlights

    See something interesting? Simply select text and choose how to share it:

    Email a customized link that shows your highlighted text.
    Copy a customized link that shows your highlighted text.
    Copy your highlighted text.

    Unlocking “household DNA” to deliver a personalized customer experience in health and human services has been saved

    Unlocking “household DNA” to deliver a personalized customer experience in health and human services has been removed

    An Article Titled Unlocking “household DNA” to deliver a personalized customer experience in health and human services already exists in Saved items

     
    Forgot password

    To stay logged in, change your functional cookie settings.

    OR

    Connect Accounts

    Connect your social accounts

    This is the first time you have logged in with a social network.

    You have previously logged in with a different account. To link your accounts, please re-authenticate.

    Log in with an existing social network:

    To connect with your existing account, please enter your password:

    OR

    Log in with an existing site account:

    To connect with your existing account, please enter your password:

    Forgot password

    Subscribe

    to receive more business insights, analysis, and perspectives from Deloitte Insights
    ✓ Link copied to clipboard
    • Contact us
    • Submit RFP
    • Job search
    Follow Deloitte Insights:
    Office locations
    GLOBAL-EN Location: GLOBAL-English  
    About Deloitte
    • Newsroom
    • Social media
    • Leadership blog
    • Press releases
    • Submit an RFP
    • Job Search
    • Global office directory
    • Contact us
    • About Deloitte
    • Our impact
    Services
    • Audit & Assurance
    • Consulting
    • Risk Advisory
    • Financial Advisory
    • Legal
    • Tax
    Industries
    • Consumer
    • Energy, Resources & Industrials
    • Financial Services
    • Government & Public Services
    • Life Sciences & Health Care
    • Technology, Media & Telecommunications
    Careers
    • Job search
    • Experienced hires
    • Students
    • Life at Deloitte
    • Inclusion at Deloitte
    • Alumni
    • About the Deloitte organization
    • Terms of use
    • Cookies
    • Privacy
    • Privacy Shield
    • Accessibility statement

     

    © 2022. For information, contact Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited.

     

    Deloitte refers to one or more of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (“DTTL”), its global network of member firms, and their related entities (collectively, the “Deloitte organization”). DTTL (also referred to as “Deloitte Global”) and each of its member firms and related entities are legally separate and independent entities, which cannot obligate or bind each other in respect of third parties. DTTL and each DTTL member firm and related entity is liable only for its own acts and omissions, and not those of each other. DTTL does not provide services to clients. Please see www.deloitte.com/about to learn more.