Insurance companies aren’t known for their stellar customer service. In the recent 2013 Temkin Experience Ratings, the health plan industry ranked second to last in terms of customer experience, tied with Internet service providers and just above TV service providers. The majority of those surveyed, in fact, ranked their experience with health plans as “okay” to “very poor.”
“Most people don’t trust their insurance company,” says Jack Stoddard, chief operating officer with Accolade, a health assistant and advocacy company. Member services teams at insurance companies are “hired for transactions and they look at these conversations [with plan members] as transactions and they’re trying to do it as efficiently as possible,” he says.
