As shown in a recent Forrester report, the health insurance industry faces a great deal of discontent from consumers. Of the 13 industries tracked by Forrester, health plans rank dead last in consumer experience.
At the same time, the market for individual insurance coverage is growing. Reform will continue to accelerate this growth. In this age of health insurance exchange, it is estimated that the health insurance market will be worth almost $60 billion by 2014; the market is expected to grow to almost $200 billion by 2019. This creates an incredible market opportunity for health insurance companies.
This confluence of events creates some issues for the health insurance market status quo. As recent trends have shown, consumer expectations are ahead of what health insurance companies deliver. These unhappy customers will ultimately flee toward rivals. Health plans will need to work hard to build consumer experience and loyalty in order to win business in a post reform world.
Those health plans that work now at improving their customer experience will reap rewards. In fact, a recent report shows that nearly 50% of customers are willing to pay more for customized health plans. Now is the time for health plans to take advantage of “mass customization” standards found in other industries. Health insurers will need to drive change and innovation around consumer experience to win.
In order to do this, health plan customer experience professionals must innovate by reinventing how they interact with consumers. There are several key ways that this can be accomplished:
- Build Insurance Customer Loyalty. Leading health plans are currently canvassing clinicians and patients to understand what level of intervention they would accept from a health plan partner. The use of CRM would push this research into overdrive. CRM allows health plans to identify customers and their level of loyalty. Health plans will also be able to research customer preferences, escalate issues, and build strong relationships with individual consumer in mass as a result.
- Gamify Consumer Experience to Reduce Costs.In order to control costs, health plans often tie incentives to healthy behaviors. Instead, health plans should start with the customer and consider what they already gravitate towards to encourage a healthful lifestyle. Our recent pieces “Engaging Patients with “Gamified” Mobile Care” and “What is the Greatest Mobile Health Challenge?” explore this trend.
- Use technology to speed time to market. Investing in technology fosters an innovative community where health plans can partner with providers and consumers. Using a social media platform can allow health insurers to test initiatives through gathering and refining ideas that would otherwise take months to enact.
