Prism Services Group

Generations Online in 2010

Posted on September 20, 2011 by jmalone

People in different age groups use the Internet for different things; this has been true since the beginning of the Internet revolution and in general this trend continues, though there are some notable shifts when you look at the generations online in 2010.

The Pew Research Center has studied online activity by generation over the past few years, and has discovered some interesting findings. Their studies look at Internet usage in the following areas by age: email, search engine use, downloading podcasts, social network usage, online gaming, reading blogs, blogging, and participating in virtual worlds.

Since 2009, the dominance of the Millennial generation has slipped in many activities. Millennials remain more likely to access the Internet wirelessly with a laptop or mobile phone, and to play online games and use social networking sites. However, the most recent survey showed that Internet users in Gen X and older are more likely than Millennials to engage in online activities such as visiting government websites, and getting financial information online. While the youngest generations are still much more likely to use social network sites than the older generations, the fastest growth in social network usage has actually come from Internet users age 74 and older, quadrupling since 2008 from 4% to 16%. The biggest trend seen was that, while the very youngest and oldest groups still differ drastically in their Internet usage, certain key Internet uses are becoming more uniformly popular across all age groups, including seeking out health information, purchasing products online, making travel reservations, and downloading podcasts.

So as you move forward developing new sites, online tools and social media pieces, keep these trends in mind. While the Millennial might be the “obvious choice” for main users, the online population as a whole is beginning to shift. So make sure your content and usability testing incorporates everyone.

Let us know on Facebook or Twitter how you change delivery for you generational audience.

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AHIP Conference 2011: Challenges Facing the Healthcare Industry but Where are the Solutions?

Posted on September 13, 2011 by jmalone

Earlier this summer, the America’s Health Insurance Plan conference was filled with some helpful information but mostly uncertainty on the future of healthcare in the United States. One of the speakers put it best when they said, “I’ve heard many definitions of the problem but not one good solution.” If the best and brightest in the industry are struggling to define the best solutions to our complex healthcare system and its future, how is the average consumer supposed to navigate it to get the best care for themselves and their family?

When it comes to trends servicing consumers, some of the top benefits they need include an easy purchase process, descriptions of products and features, options to compare providers and the ability to read reviews from others. While the industry moves to a more consumer-centric service model, this new model has to be outcome based. Health insurance plans also cannot approach members with a one-size-fits-all approach with the many types of providers and must create different models to serve different groups.

There are a few game changers on the horizon as well. With the healthcare act, it is possible that health insurance coverage will be the individual’s responsibility to secure. Employers must offer it or risk stiff penalties. Regardless, most large employers still are providing benefits with 71 percent confident they will provide it five years from now but only 38 percent confident they will provide it 10 years from now. The administrative burdens also are quite high with 81 percent of the burden falling on the Human Resources department.

PRISM Services Group is watching the healthcare landscape very closely, and we remain committed to facilitating informed healthcare decisions with our CLARUS Healthcare Advisor platform. With healthcare costs rising, it grows even more critical that the true service costs are transparent to consumers, thus empowering them to make more informed healthcare decisions.

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Ways to Use Social Media in Insurance

Posted on September 7, 2011 by jmalone

Using social media to reach customers is a trend that is catching on with companies in nearly every industry. It might seem like insurance companies and social media are not exactly a match made in heaven, but, with a little creativity, using social media in insurance companies is more effective than one might think.

One example of an insurance carrier that has found a way to make social media work for them is Humana. Rather than simply using existing outlets like Facebook and Twitter to try to interact with consumers, Humana has created their own virtual-world style interactive tool designed for its Medicare Advantage and Medicare Advantage Part D users. Humanaville is a community that includes real-world-style locations and activities, including a town square, health clinic, library, fitness center, games and relaxation areas. These locations offer members the opportunity to find information, play games and interact with other avatars through online chat and community discussion forums where they can post original content and topics, ask questions, and respond to the questions of others.

The main goal of Humanaville is to increase the use of the Humana Member Assistance Program. When Humana noticed that its members were using social networks such as Facebook and Twitter to find health info, they worked to find a way to leverage what they knew about their clients and encourage them to participate in the Member Assistance Program. Humanaville was a logical way to use clients’ interest in social networks to accomplish this goal.

Finding creative ways to use social media in insurance can pay off without compromising the sensitive nature of health insurance claims. Combining consumers’ interest in social media and social networks with platforms that deliver reliable health information in fun and interactive ways helps companies reach customers in new ways.

Have questions about social media in insurance? Ask us on Facebook and Twitter!

Posted in Social Media in Insurance | Tagged Social Media in Insurance | 1 Comment

Effectively Using Social Media in Healthcare

Posted on September 1, 2011 by jmalone

Taking advantage of marketing strategies, and reaching consumers effectively are things that all businesses strive to do, and the healthcare industry is no exception. Social media is the biggest trend in marketing these days, and companies, even ones that have to adhere to HIPPA regulations, are constantly finding ways to jump on this bandwagon. Social media in healthcare is becoming a big deal, and has the potential to benefit professionals and consumers alike.

Social media provides a unique new form of marketing because it is interactive. Marketing efforts are no longer a one-way street, and this can be beneficial to consumers, especially healthcare consumers. When used strategically, social media provides benefits to hospitals in several ways. Being involved in a social network gives hospital personnel the ability to listen and monitor its brand; to administer real-time customer service; to create brand ambassadors who can promote the organization without an agenda; and to create a community that wants to stay connected.

Hospitals can also use social media as an educational platform for preventative healthcare. By empowering physicians and healthcare professionals to participate, they can also create a realm of interactive healthcare that encourages consumers to also engage in the process of care, which ultimately results in better care for patients. Many healthcare consumers use the Internet to seek out reliable health information, and when hospitals engage in social media, it is even easier for consumers to access the information that they are seeking; with social media, not only are consumers able to access the information quickly, they are able to do so in an interactive environment so that their questions about the information can be answered as well.

The healthcare industry is in a position to provide better care to patients through the use of these interactive tools, networks, and the relationships that are formed when they are used strategically and responsibly.

Have questions about social media in healthcare? Ask us on Facebook and Twitter!

Posted in Social Media in Healthcare | Tagged Social Media in Healthcare | 2 Comments

Supporting Empowerment with Informed Healthcare Decisions

Posted on August 2, 2011 by jmalone

By Adam Johnson, Sales Executive, PRISM Services Group

A critical part of today’s healthcare landscape is the ability for employees and members to actively engage in their healthcare. Those who manage their own healthcare needs by researching things like cost, quality and other forms of health content to make informed decisions have been deemed as an empowered patient.

However, the jury is still out on whether most employees would rather be empowered or managed. An engagement assessment by change:healthcare reports that an average of only six percent of employees actually are engaged in their healthcare by leveraging existing options to save money, enroll in wellness programs and access supplemental information to make better health decisions.

In an article on Kevin MD, Toni Bigby writes, “It’s obvious through the health care laws that our leadership believes people want to be empowered.” The question becomes what needs to be done to catch the attention of employees and draw on their personal need to feel empowered so that they act as such. The advances in mobile, web and social dependencies have paved a route for PRISM’s latest solution.

In an effort to provide employees with key information to take charge of their healthcare management, PRISM has created a solution. With our CLARUS™ platform, patients can search and compare high quality providers, look up costs on anything from procedures to prescriptions and manage their own healthcare in one portal. Aside from the member portal, CLARUS proactively engages employees about cost saving opportunities and supports them through the process of making changes to their existing healthcare providers. With our actionable ways to save alerts, healthcare reminders and a three step “how to” program that guides consumers through the process of switching providers or pharmacies, each employee receives a health strategy that is tailored to their individual claims history.

Not only is the CLARUS solution a way for employers to save on rising healthcare costs, it is a way to give people the ability to be empowered and provide them the support needed to be effective in that role.

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There’s an App for that… New Smartphone Applications

Posted on July 25, 2011 by jmalone

By Adam Johnson, Sales Executive, PRISM Services Group

I often wonder what the next generation’s, “Back in my day, we didn’t have….” will be. I can certainly remember a time before the internet and the days of screeching dial-up noises that came on when attempting to access the web in its original form. The absence of cell phones and internet are nothing compared to the “back in my day” counts our parents or grandparents have collected over time. As it stands today, any convenience a person may desire can most likely be serviced by a mobile app and regardless of one’s whereabouts; they can access any type of information they want. In a short list, I’ve collected some of my favorite apps that are simple and logical for a general user that may not be so high maintenance in their every-move demands.

1) Retro camera – Take professional quality photos with a vintage look without the expensive camera.

2) Shazam- Avoid the awkward moment of asking a teenage retail employee what the name of the song they’re playing in the store is (that you’re embarrassed that you like) and find out yourself.

3) Espn Score Center- Compile a list of your favorite sports teams and keep track of their scores when a honey-do has you missing that annual, season- defining game.

4) Tomato Ratings- View critic and public ratings for movies before you go and see them. At $9.50 a movie ticket, it’s worth reducing your dud potential.

5) Fooducate- Scan the bar code on food items at the grocery store to find out their healthiness grade and calorie count before you buy them based on what the label says.

As for applications that can impact the landscape of how we manage our personal healthcare: PRISM’s Healthcare Navigator app allows people to find highly rated providers and lower costing procedures and prescriptions before a costly visit. Their experience can then be shared through PRISM’s Facebook app. The answer in all industries, especially healthcare, should always be, “Yeah…there’s an app for that.”

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Posted in New Smartphone Applications | Tagged new smartphone applications, new smartphone apps | Leave a comment

Health Plans Ride the Mobile Healthcare Apps Wave

Posted on July 15, 2011 by jmalone

By Adam Johnson, Sales Executive, PRISM Services Group

The mobile revolution – 3G, 4G, iPads, Android, Bluetooth – for a technology that only reached wide scale adoption in the last 15 years, our society hasn’t just adopted mobile technology, it is addicted to it. This increased connectivity and a society that is becoming “always on, always reachable” presents a great opportunity to many industries – especially ones that may have been a little more latent technology adopters like healthcare.

According to Dr. Peripatetic on KevinMD, “patients often are intimidated and confused by the whole medical experience.” Mobile applications would help the healthcare industry leapfrog other technologies they’ve been slow to adopt in favor of offering mobile applications that reach patients through the device that lives with them 24/7.

Providing libraries of health content, reminders, symptom checkers, wellness tools, cost calculators, provider search and benefit information both on the web and through mobile are a few of the offerings to members. The good news is that health plans are adopting these innovative mobile applications. For example, Priority Health in Michigan turned to tools that bring everything together in one easy to use site that can be accessed from a computer or mobile phone.

The fact remains, however, that connecting the dots of health information and requiring people to take extra steps without clear direction can be challenging at best. The CLARUS mobile platform is actively pursuing members with texts and email alerts. It uses a push strategy that gets them personalized healthcare information and guides them back to a member web experience to make important healthcare decisions.

Mobile navigation, text messaging and the ability to share pictures and video in seconds are examples of the advancements in technology. Merging convenience and direction into an industry that has been hard to navigate will certainly rely on mobile.

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Posted in Healthcare Trends, Mobile Health Apps | Tagged Mobile Health Apps, mobile healthcare apps | 2 Comments

Google Health… RIP

Posted on July 7, 2011 by jmalone

Google decided that it could not save its healthcare platform and is buried the remnants of an idea that never took flight last week. There were many problems with Google Health, but the major issue was that Google Health didn’t quite understand how complex and interconnected our healthcare system is. As a result, Google Health couldn’t populate itself with the breadth of data needed to make it a rich consumer experience. Providing a useful healthcare tool requires more than a bunch of fancy search algorithms. It also requires a near-symbiotic relationship with the health insurance plans, the healthcare providers and the other healthcare partners that touch the data that must be aggregated in a meaningful fashion for consumers.

Any healthcare solution providing a useful consumer experience should:

Have access to location, profiles and consumer ratings of doctors and facilities
Integrate with health insurance plans to present treatment cost
Proactively offer cost saving opportunities for prescriptions and other treatment options
Guide consumers through each step of making these changes
Help a consumer navigate through the complex web of information to make an informed healthcare decision

Google Health failed in every one of these departments and struggled to offer both the data it needed to power an effective healthcare search platform or the retail user experience needed to attract consumers on a mass scale.

What a Healthcare Navigator Needs

Any health navigation tool should first and foremost provide customers with reasons to return and use the solution – cost saving data, provider and facility quality ratings and the ability to integrate their healthcare choices with their social media usage. If these benefits are not provided, the navigation platform will die for lack of user acceptance, as happened with Google Health. But now a new dilemma emerges on the scene according to Chilmark Research.

“Engaging the consumer/patient most often begins at the doctor’s office,” says John Moore of Chilmark Research. “If you do not get the physician(s) involved, actively promoting the patient to use such tools as Google Health and likewise do the hard work of creating value for the physician it may be nearly impossible to gain real traction.”

The bottom line is that you can’t create a powerful healthcare navigation tool in a vacuum as Google attempted to do. Healthcare is a very crowded sandbox, and you have to play nicely and exchange tools with everyone in it to make a navigation tool that consumers will adopt and use.

Find more valuable information on Facebook, Twitter, and Prismsg.com!

Posted in Google Health, Search Engines, Social Media | Tagged Google Health, Google Healthcare, healthcare | Leave a comment

Generations Online in 2010

AHIP Conference 2011: Challenges Facing the Healthcare Industry but Where are the Solutions?

Supporting Empowerment with Informed Healthcare Decisions

There’s an App for that… New Smartphone Applications

Health Plans Ride the Mobile Healthcare Apps Wave

Clarus Demo Request

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