Tech

When HHS published its template for a Summary of Benefits and Coverage my first thought was, "Wow, this looks a lot like the summary information available in my products and many other products on the market. Now we have yet another version of how to communicate benefits to consumers, and we have the government telling the experts how to do something we have been doing for years."

It used to be commonplace to find employees of Las Vegas-based Insurcorp at the casinos at 2 a.m. Not to blow off steam after a long workday, but to continue it, conducting benefit meetings for graveyard shift staffers.

Owners of insurance agencies — long a community mainstay — need to start pondering their futures now or they may become irrelevant, said the chairman of The Big "I".

Liberty Mutual Insurance’s Group Benefits operation became the first to introduce a mobile application that makes it easier for employees and clients to manage their benefits.

Although the focus of discussion among health plan thought leaders who convened in Florida last month at The Managed Care Executive Group ran the gamut from care management to meaningful use, to medical informatics, payment reforms, HSAs and more, technology’s role in the industry’s success was evident.

Forty-two percent of respondents have used social media to access consumer reviews of treatments or physicians, 30% have supported a health cause, 25% have posted content about their own health experiences and 20% have joined a health forum or community, according to the Health Research Institute of PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Ongoing market dynamics and trends will affect the acquisition, implementation, and use of connected health technology by U.S. health care providers, payers, and consumers in the year ahead and beyond. Increased understanding of these forthcoming changes will help health care organizations and I.T. vendors optimize their strategic planning and investments. Overarching themes that run through IDC Health Insights' top 10 connected health predictions include mobile, social, “big data," cloud, and analytics. Health reform and market pressures to reduce costs and improve the quality of care will play a major role in shaping the following 10 themes and predictions.

Many businesses are incorporating social media into their marketing campaigns and into their product and service offerings. But new technology does not always disintermediate. In the case of social media, the "original" social media technology is being integrated in new and innovative ways. So what is it? The plain old telephone. Increasingly, employees and consumers are using social media on their mobile devices or smart phones. At the end of the day, however, a smart phone is still a phone.

Michael Dermer, president and chief executive of IncentOne, works with health plans, health service companies and self-insured employers to boost consumer and provider engagement. The Lyndhurst, N.J.-based company launched its first incentive program in 2004 and now has more than 350 customers.

Within 30 minutes of being contacted, insurance agent Dal Watson had already added this reporter on most of his social media sites - Google+, LinkedIn and Twitter. And doing so with clients has brought him and other brokers who are on social media increased business, better reputations and stronger connections.