The nation's largest insurer is making leaps in the journey of consumer-driven healthcare, improving its digital offerings and investing in new member incentives.
With a revamping and updates added to its mobile application, UnitedHealthcare is boasting that it is the only national insurer offering mobile payment options integrated with claims and benefits information.
UnitedHealthcare updated its Health4Me mobile app with version 4.1 on February 3. Available on iPhone and Android systems, anyone can download the app to identify local providers and review average prices for 755 kinds of services and 500 episodes of care -- "providing a comprehensive view of what consumers should expect throughout their course of treatment," the company said.
UnitedHealthcare members can get estimates based on contracted rates and any real-time account balances. The mobile bill-payment service is available to more than 13 million UnitedHealthcare employer-sponsored plan participants nationwide.
"Health4Me helps consumers conveniently and easily manage their healthcare finances, and make more informed choices, while at home or on the go," said Yasmine Winkler, UnitedHealthcare's chief marketing and product officer.
"By enabling consumers to more easily monitor, manage and understand their health care expenses anytime and anyplace, we are helping people take charge of their health and make more informed decisions regarding their care," added Winkler, who came to UHG in 2009 after working in product development for Blue Cross giant Health Care Services Corporation.
Among the new features in in the app specially for members are options to pay medical bills with credit, debit or HSA, medical expense monitoring for tax filing, wearable connectivity to track activity through something like a Fitbit device, and streaming content from UHC.TV, the company's health and wellness channel.
Even before the update, UHG members have also been able to use the app to contact a nurse practitioner 24/7 to get advice on non-emergent health concerns or ailments, although that feature has received mixed reviews, with one user in iTunes recently reporting problems accessing the service.
The payment option, called myClaims Manager, was designed in a project with the payments technology company InstaMed, and is available to members of UHC group plans.
United says the app has been downloaded more than 1 million times, although that is less than three percent of the company's total membership and potential reach. The challenge now will be to observe how consumers use the features, improve core functions based on feedback, or look for new opportunities, like incorporating rewards into activity tracking.
As of February 16, the new version of the app has 21 iTune Store reviews with an average rating of 3.5 out of 5 stars. They range from "missed the mark," about glitches with the deductible processing, and "almost great," to "great app."
Another potential shortcoming is that the customized version of Health4Me is not available to UnitedHealthcare individual plan members, although they can still download the guest version for comparison shopping.
Many national and regional insurers have been investing in mobile and online apps for their members, but to mixed success, even as health insurance consumers with high-deductible plans are increasingly expecting to be able to comparison shop and seek assistance online.
Insurers have to improve those basic transparency services online and on the web, and through traditional phone-based customer support. To develop really useful mobile apps and use them in personal health engagement or employer-sponsored wellness plans, many iterations and experiments will be necessary.
The average smartphone owner downloads around 50 apps, but uses less than 10 regularly, according to Darren Olson, senior manager of digital innovation and mobile strategy for UPMC Health Plan. "The first thing we think about when we wake up is not interacting with a health plan," he added.
UPMC Health Plan has its own mobile ambitions, trying to bring Yinzers a healthcare vision of "what they've become accustomed to in the digital retail world." For UPMC and others, there could be a big opportunity to use mobile apps as part of incentivizing healthy behaviors, for both individual member and for corporate wellness. UnitedHealthcare in particular has a rather fresh digital wellness asset in Audax, a startup it scooped up last year.
Some in the health insurance industry are bullish about the potential for rewards -- say, $20 off the monthly premium for walking five miles a day.
"It is just a matter of time before consumers expect every health plan to have a universal rewards program just like their hotel, bank, airline and credit card," said Michael Dermer, a consumer rewards evangelist who serves as chief incentive officer at the technology company Welltok.
As it happens, UnitedHealthcare is also starting a new healthy foods discount program in Wisconsin, where it covers some 1.4 million residents.
Wisconsinites insured through UHC's employer-sponsored plans can now get discounts of up to $150 per month on a range of wholesome foods as part of a program with company Healthy Savings. Members can see a list of discounted items like unsweetened yogurt, guacamole and baked vegetable snacks with ratings from the Guiding Stars nutrition guidance system. They can use pre-loaded cards to get the discounts at 199 Roundy's grocery stores, including four Metro Market, 25 Copps and 90 Pick 'n Save.
"Healthy Savings gives people the opportunity to make healthier food choices and improve their diets, which will make a tremendous difference in their health and well-being," said Dustin Hinton, CEO of UnitedHealthcare of Wisconsin. "