Like most businesses, health insurers are tapping the potential of mobile applications as a way to reach out to consumers. But health plans increasingly are developing apps that go beyond giving members access to claims information, deductible status and an ID card. The latest generation of apps is helping to promote fitness and better nutrition. Some insurers, however, have opted to stay out of apps development and are revamping their website instead.

Research compiled by HPW shows that many health plans, at the very least, have launched apps designed for member services (see tables, pp. 3-4). This includes functions that allow members to look up claims, view personal health records, price medications and locate network providers.

However, a number of large insurers, namely Cigna Corp. and WellPoint, Inc., have chosen not to jump into the mobile app arena, choosing instead to create mobile versions of their website that are designed especially for use on smartphones or tablets.

Highmark Inc., for example, made a conscious decision to create a dynamic mobile Web site rather than several apps, says Matt Fidler, vice president of retail and consumer marketing at the insurer, because of the frequent updating of the app for users.

“One of the things we are looking for [in our mobile capabilities] is that really on-the-fly functionality,” he tells HPW. Highmark’s mobile site, https://m.highmarkbcbs.com/mobile.html, for example, allows users to find nearby providers using a smart device’s GPS. But the insurer has added to that feature by allowing members to rate their physician on the site based on several different metrics as part of patient experience reviews.

The mobile website, however, does not provide any wellness offerings, and Fidler says the insurer is cautious getting into that space. While he admits that wellness apps are “a dime a dozen,” Highmark wants to look at what’s out there and determine how its wellness apps can be different. Highmark is looking at app pilots for diabetes management, wellness programs and even telemedicine.

Humana Sees Promise of Apps

Humana has two primary apps for members: My Humana Mobile provides access to member services, and Humana Fit provides workout tracking and includes a social media aspect so users can share their fitness goals with each other.

But the insurer also has two app games designed to promote wellness goals, says Nate Bellinger, director of consumer innovation. Colorfall is a variation of the video game Tetris and is designed to promote cognitive skills such as problem solving, Bellinger tells HPW. The other, Goldwalker, has the user act as a miner searching for gold, hiring workers and buying equipment. But the character in the app can move only if the user walks around in the real world.

Julie Kling, Humana’s mobile executive business lead, adds that when it comes to developing apps, all ideas go through several filters. We’re “not thinking about just physical health, but their [overall] well-being,…their beliefs and their connections with family and friends,” she tells HPW, adding that the apps are designed to encourage member self-service capabilities, impact medical trend, promote retention and enhance revenue.

Kling adds that Humana is in the midst of developing an iPad app specifically for use by brokers and agents to facilitate contract management and the enrollment process. “Brokers and agents are on the go away from their laptops,” she says. We want them to “get all the tools they need to do their job well” away from the office.

Other potential Humana apps on the horizon include one for mobile biometric monitoring. Kling says this app would be designed for members with chronic conditions and would monitor body functions and then transmit that data to their physician.

Aetna Buys Mobile App Developer

Some insurers are making even bigger investments in the mobile app space. In December 2011, Aetna Inc. purchased mobile app developer Healthagen, which developed an app called iTriage used to help consumers evaluate their symptoms and find local health care providers (HPW 12/26/11, p. 8). Using iTriage’s “Symptom-to-Provider” pathway, users can look up their symptoms, find out possible causes and — based on that information — use GPS to find a doctor in their area for treatment. The app has been downloaded more than 6 million times, according to Aetna spokesperson Ethan Slavin.

Aetna stands out from other insurers in the way it uses apps due to its embrace of the CarePass Sync platform, which became available to consumers June 18. The platform allows the movement of health-related data between apps that are CarePass-enabled and stores it in what Aetna calls a “personal health cloud.” For example, if a member goes for a run using a jogging app, the distance is automatically added to the user’s cloud. And using a participating nutrition app, calories from the run are automatically figured into the daily caloric intake. MapMyFitness, which has developed many fitness- oriented apps, is one of a handful of companies whose apps integrate with CarePass.

Also last month, Aetna unveiled the CarePass Developer Challenge to encourage app developers to create a program that will improve medication adherence. The two winners chosen will share in a $100,000 prize.

“One of our primary goals in launching these apps is to help consumers and health care providers make better, smarter and safer decisions in ways they couldn’t before,” Slavin tells HPW. “In addition to providing valuable information at the right time, we also hope that these tools help consumers become more fully engaged in their own health care, and help support providers in delivering better care to their patients.”

Mobile Applications in Use by Selected Publicly Traded Insurers

The majority of mobile apps used today by health plans are primarily designed to provide members with self-service on their policies, as well as locate providers. However, a number of carriers have expanded into fitness and wellness apps. And in the near future, some insurers will likely unveil apps that are geared toward the agent/broker community, as well as providers.

Mobile Applications in Use by Selected Blues Plans

© 2012 by Atlantic Information Services, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

A recent AIS webinar that explored this topic is available at the AIS Marketplace. Click here to listen On-Demand or get a CD of “Health Insurer Strategies to Harness the Limitless Potential of Mobile Smart Devices.”