Payers are following the mobile craze with apps to attract and ideally better serve customers. That can be a fraught pursuit, opening insurers to scrutiny and raising questions about the very experience they're trying to offer.
Healthcare Payer News reviewed user comments relating to more than a dozen payer apps in the iTunes store. There is a wide range of mobile options insurers are offering and a broad array of consumer sentiment about them -- from "This is a Rolls Royce" to "This app is prehistoric."
"I think the people who set up the Obamacare website practiced first on this app," wrote one reviewer of a Blue Cross Blue Shield app with a basic suite of services (a provider directory, claims and benefit viewer and email-a-question service). "With all the money insurance companies make they should be able to make a snappy and user friendly app. There's really no excuse," wrote another reviewer of the same product.
Whatever other challenges are facing the industry, it seems that if insurers are going to offer a mobile app, they should brace to endure a lot of consumer criticism. Also, be prepared to invest, iterate and connect the app to the members' overall health plan experience -- or improve that first.
Aetna
Though it has shut down a mobile wellness platform, a health plan app called Aetna Mobile lives on.
The app lets users look up the status of a claim, locate urgent care and walk-in clinics, check deductible balances, and look up drug prices and estimate costs based on their plan.
Available in English and Spanish, the app also lets members view a personal health record, with medications and emergency information that can be shared with a care team, get support for disability benefits, and file complaints and appeals.
"I almost didn't get this app because of all the bad reviews," wrote one iTunes reviewer.
"I'm glad I downloaded it anyway. It's very basic but works well. It's not like being on the computer, but helpful on the go."
Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield
Members of Anthem, Inc.'s affiliated health plans in 14 states first got access to a mobile app in 2011. Today, they can find in-network doctors, hospitals, urgent care centers and pharmacies, order medications, get cost estimates and use a virtual insurance card.
Earlier this year a cost-estimate tool and personal health record was added. Another recent update added quality ratings to the physician finder function, and a "click to chat" feature offering access to a customer representative is expected soon. Still, one recent iTunes reviewer described the experience as buggy and suggest rebuilding a native app from the ground up.
"Our goal is to equip consumers with the tools and access to information to make better healthcare choices and empower them to take an active role in their health and well-being," a spokesperson said. "We've listened to their feedback and have invested in addressing their concerns."
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona
Arizona's Blue Cross insurer also first rolled out the AZBlue Mobile app in 2011, the year the iPhone 4s came out.
Today it offers a digital ID card, plan benefit explanations, deductible balances, a provider locator service, premium payment and the Healthwise Mobile Conditions and Wellness Module.
That module, using an information service from another company, lets members research health conditions and treatment options.
The app also lets members contact customer service and phone access to a nurse.
A customer review from February 2014 suggested an improvement for the provider locator function: "It would be 100x more useful if it would show in-network practitioners near your current location."
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois
Illinois' largest health insurer first launched its mobile app in 2012, and is now on version 2.02. Using the app, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois members can use a digital ID card, find an in-network physician, review pharmacy benefits, see claims updates and get text reminders for prescriptions and regular wellness tips.
While the app is not available in Spanish, members can search for doctors that speak Spanish -- a function aimed at Latino Illinoisans, who make up more than 16 percent of the state population, especially in Chicago-area communities, and are part of national demographic of middle and lower income individuals seeing expanded access to insurance under the Affordable Care Act.
BCBSIL, one of five insurers in the Health Care Services Corporation family, has received mixed reviews for it's app. "This app is very basic," wrote one recent reviewer. "This app needs some major work done."
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas' app is pretty much the same as BCBSIL's, in large part because HCSC also owns the Texas Blues. Posted in 2012, the BCBSTX app lets members find a doctor, urgent care center or hospital, view pharmacy benefits, get medication and text message reminders, and search for doctors that speak Spanish -- also a boon in the country's second largest Latino population.
In state where urban and suburban residents have many choices of health plans, physicians, urgent care clinics and hospitals, the BCBSTX app also offers plan shopping and quote options.
Among the reviews, though, are many calls and suggestions for improvement. One reviewer told others that they'd be better off just using the insurer's web portal -- a sentiment others echo.
Blue Shield of California
The third largest insurer in the state that defines consumer technology, Blue Shield of California has an app that lets members find urgent care centers, hospitals and doctors (with contact information and turn-by-turn directions), use a digital ID card, access plan benefits, view most-used copayments and claims, and contact a 24/7 nurse helpline.
To date, there have been 48,000 lifetime downloads of Blue Shield's app, and it was used 14,000 times in October, according to a spokesperson for the insurer, one of the few to divulge any user metrics.
The Blue Shield app and mobile website are also getting a December "refresh," with new features that include bill pay options (something more than a few iTunes reviewers suggested), "zero-click" access to benefit FAQs, and "better accessibility of deductible and year-to-date accumulator status."
CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield
CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, serving Maryland, Virginia and Washington. D.C., offers an app with a virtual ID card, communications preferences management, coverage, deductible and claims review, and a provider and urgent care locator, which includes a "one touch" urgent care search to find the 10 closest EDs.
"Our surveys and our usage data indicate that members use mobile access for much the same purpose as they use desktop access: researching the status of a claim, checking benefit coverage, and finding a provider," said Rita Costello, senior vice president of strategic marketing.
CareFirst tracks the number of log-ins to its mobile member site, which includes its app and its mobile-optimized site. As of September, almost 232,000 members have logged into the mobile site. In January, CareFirst is rolling out a new responsive site, Wolf noted. Members will basically have "the same experience and access to the same features regardless of whether they visit us using a desktop, tablet, or smartphone." The company also recently launched a game app bringing customers wellness messages, and a pedometer app.
Cigna
Cigna's mobile app lets members search for network providers, compare quality ratings and costs, view claims, plan deductibles and coverage details, and find pharmacies and drug costs.
Members can also set up a contact list for frequently-used providers and participate in wellness programs; they can track biometric information, goals, activities and rewards.
Cigna is among the insurers betting on digitally-driven wellness programs to serve employer clients and engage their more at-risk members in lifestyle changes.
The insurer's Health Matters program offers a suite of health coaching tools available online and on mobile platforms with social media, games and cash and gift card incentives.
Florida Blue
Florida's largest insurer launched the first version of its app in May of 2011, and now lets members use a digital ID card, compare costs for common visits and procedures across providers, locate doctors, hospitals and pharmacies, compare drug prices and view plan information such as HSA balances and benefits summaries.
Members can even "call a nurse instantly" and get annual reminders about well visits. Potential members can also shop and get quotes for plans.
Additionally, the insurer uses the app to notify members of events at one of its 18 retail centers, places branded as destinations for health and wellness, with free blood tests, advice on chronic conditions and telehealth kiosks.
Group Health
On the West Coast, the Washington State cooperative health plan and clinic network Group Health has an app available for 400,000 members.
They can use the app to refill prescriptions, make appointments, email clinicians, see lab and test results, review visit summaries, receive preventive care reminders, track immunizations, allergies and health conditions, use a symptom checker, consult a nurse 24/7 and see wait times for picking up a script or lab test.
"For getting lab results and messages, and paying bills, this app is fine," writes on reviewer. The symptom checker, the same reviewer said, was not very useful. Another reviewer recommended the ability to pay premiums.
HealthPartners
Another cooperative plan and clinic network, Minnesota-based HealthPartners, offers a similar app attempting to bridge the insurance and clinical experience.
HealthPartners members can use a digital ID card, find hospitals and clinics, schedule and manage appointments, refill prescriptions, review lab results, check plan balances, and keep immunization histories.
Members can also use the app to access a 24/7 nurse advice line, get personalized preventive care reminders, and gauge wait times at clinics.
About 30,000 of the HealthPartners' 1.5 million medical and dental plan members log in to the app each month, and it's available in English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, simplified Chinese and Spanish.
Humana
Among the national insurers increasingly looking to the individual market, Humana has been using the mobile space to promote and reach out to members for its Vitality wellness, with an app that integrates with fitness apps and devices like Fitbit and Strava.
The main health plan functions of the app include a deductible calculator, customer service support for claims questions, provider search and drug pricing estimates.
Humana's Vitality dashboard attempts to give members a personalized wellness experience, with goals, metrics, rewards and various alerts. The payer has integrated both the mobile and web-based versions of Vitality with Apple's HealthKit. "The simple, innovative, and easy-to-use design of the Apple Health app makes it easier for these Humana members to collectively manage their fitness data so they can improve their health," said Bruce Broussard, Humana's president and CEO.
Greater Philadelphia's largest insurer, Independence Blue Cross, went live with its mobile app in January 2013, as part of a greater push to make its health plans more consumer-oriented ahead of Affordable Care Act exchanges.
Available in both English and Spanish, "IBX Mobile changes the game," the company claimed.
For the insurance experience, members can find a network doctor, hospital, pharmacy or urgent care center with a map, get personalized drug cost estimates and medication alerts, and view benefits and HSA balances. The general public can also use the app to shop for an IBX plan.
For the clinical experience, members can also use a personal health record that imports data from providers and displays lab results, tracks medication lists and records notes.
UPMC Health Plan
On the other side of Pennsylvania, the nation's second-largest provider-owned insurer, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Health Plan, has been steadily iterating on its mobile app in a larger consumerization effort.
Dubbed by one iTunes reviewer a "Rolls Royce of health insurance apps," UPMC Health Plan's app lets members contact providers or pharmacies from a personalized list, view the personal health records, message customer service, check FSA balances and participate in an employer wellness program.
With the mobile app and web services, UPMC Health Plan has been trying to give members "what they've become accustomed to in the digital retail world," while also recognizing that most people don't regularly interact with their health plan and don't necessarily want to, said Kim Jacobs, VP of strategic business development and consumer innovation.
So far, the app has been downloaded about 28,000 times, and is used a few times a week by between 5,000 and 10,000 members, many of them in high-deductible plans with employer wellness programs. In 2015, Jacob's team is planning a number of new features, including a provider and treatment comparison tool that gives personalized out-of-pocket cost estimates and a data integrator and wellness service, for those who opt in. That will track member data from different sources and devices, integrate it into one portal and use it for wellness program rewards, such as walking contests.