Aetna video deserves its prize

Aetna won an Award of Distinction  for its short videos designed to help members comprehend and use their benefits. I'm generally a curmudgeon when it comes to such videos and their cousin the infographics. I typically find them cutesy, patronizing and generally useless. The animated people and simulated blackboard drawing are pet peeves.But I quite like the Aetna videos, especially the one about Aetna Payment Estimator. In under 90 seconds it clearly conveys several important points:

• Aetna has an online tool that provides out-of-pocket cost information based on a member's specific plan
• Members should use the tool prior to making a doctor's appointment
• You don't need to understand medical coding to use the tool
• Out-of-pocket costs can vary a lot by doctor, even for the same specialty and geographic area
• Using the tool could save a member hundreds of dollars on deductibles and co-insurance
• The tool is available on the Aetna portal with step-by-step instructions

I like it that there are pictures of actual people and that the animations are reserved for things like calculators, office buildings and charts. I could quibble about a couple things. The out-of-pocket image looks weird (is it a purse?) and I don't know why they need to talk about medical coding. And narration is by the familiar sounding, professionally enthusiastic woman who does a lot of these sorts of things. But those are nits. In general, Aetna, you've done a great job with this one.----By David E. Williams of the Health Business Group.