Health Insurers Must Innovate to Satisfy Consumer Demands, Survey Finds

Health insurers are waking up to their need to up their people skills, according to the results of a survey conducted by HealthEdge and Survata om.

HealthEdge, which provides a platform for health insurers, announced results from a survey of 73 health plan executives from across the United States.

The survey findings demonstrate that insurers are focused on finding ways to lower administrative and healthcare costs in order to create resource pools to fund innovation.

Through updating people skills, critical processes and technology systems, insurers will be well-positioned to achieve higher member satisfaction - reported as their most important organizational goal for 2018 by survey respondents.

\"Health insurers are realizing that delivering on consumer requirements and expectations are the key to the success of their organizations,\" said Steve Krupa, CEO of HealthEdge. \"Those insurers that can effectively modernize their technology systems and optimize their people and processes, will be successful in their transformation - also resulting in cost savings that will enable them to focus on those innovative projects that drive increased consumer engagement, satisfaction and loyalty.\"

Notable findings from the survey include:

• When asked what the single greatest barrier to achieving member satisfaction and other organizational goals, 62 percent of the survey respondents cited that cost structures are preventing innovation. Prohibitive administrative and healthcare costs are standing in the way of allocating resources for innovation.
• 59 percent of respondents cited the need to modernize technology to overcome the most daunting challenges and become resilient to change.
• Health insurers\' most important goal in 2018 is member satisfaction and they are concerned with ensuring that customer service representatives can deliver a high-quality, technology-enabled and positive member experience.

This is potentially good news for consumers since, let\'s face it, health insurers are notorious for their lousy customer service. Let\'s hope their focus on these issues results in a better experience for all.