Tufts Health Plan Launches Online Renewals for Its Small Group Market

    WALTHAM, Mass. and ATLANTA, March 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Tufts Health Plan,
 nationally recognized for its commitment to providing innovative, high-quality
 health care coverage, today announced the launch of the Tufts Health Plan
 Small Group Renewals solution, an online portal that automates the membership
 renewal process for employer groups and provides new and innovative tools for
 health insurance brokers.
     Connecture, Inc., the leader in web-based sales and service automation
 solutions for the insurance industry, employed its modular technology,
 including its Enterprise Rating Engine, to automate Tufts Health Plan's small
 group renewal process. This web-based automation system transforms former
 paper-based and labor-intensive processes into an easy-to-use and efficient
 online portal that can be accessed at any time, from any place.
     The integrated system empowers brokers to more easily manage their
 client's business for the renewal process, allowing brokers to select health
 care benefits package on-line and receive the associated cost of that package
 quickly and efficiently.  In addition, the software provides brokers access to
 their commission statements and facilitates efficient access to commission
 statements. Other software features include group profile management,
 electronic quoting, and renewal election. Tufts Health Plan has already
 received initial positive feedback from its broker community and will launch
 an education campaign to publicize the benefits of the new online portal.
     "We are dedicated to continuing to provide the highest levels of service
 and health care coverage to our customers. The renewals solution provided by
 Connecture has had an immediate, positive impact on reaching those goals,
 enabling us to process our April renewals more efficiently than ever before,"
 says Brian Pagliaro, vice president of sales at Tufts Health Plan. "This tool
 is an important way to improve our service to brokers who work with Tufts
 Health Plans and our members."
     As part of its overall plan to simplify health care administration, Tufts
 Health Plan looks forward to continuing to enhance the capabilities of this
 solution in 2006 by working with Connecture to automate new business quoting
 online. "Connecture is pleased to partner with Tufts Health Plan and will
 continue to work hard to further the goals of the organization," says Curt
 Schumacher, Vice President of Product Management at Connecture. "It's exciting
 to see the benefits our tools provide, helping our clients achieve a
 competitive advantage in today's highly competitive market."
 
     About Tufts Health Plan
     Tufts Health Plan is a Waltham, Massachusetts based health plan nationally
 recognized for its commitment to providing innovative, high-quality health
 care coverage. Tufts Health Plan has New England's highest enrollment in
 consumer-driven health plans. The plan is on the cutting edge of empowering
 its members and employers to make informed health care decisions and supports
 them with an array of physician and clinician led health management programs.
 Tufts Health Plan's HMO, POS and Medicare Advantage plans maintain Excellent
 accreditation status from the National Committee for Quality Assurance. And,
 Tufts Health Plan HMO has been recognized as a Distinguished Health Plan by
 J.D. Power and Associates, for providing "An Outstanding Member Experience."
 Tufts Health Plan is the first health plan in Boston to earn a J.D. Power and
 Associates award for ten years, for outstanding member satisfaction or service
 excellence.
     J.D. Power and Associates recognition as a Distinguished Health Plan based
 on the benchmarks established by the 2004 National Managed Care Satisfaction
 Study(SM). Previous awards based on national studies conducted by CareData,
 Inc. (acquired by J.D. Power and Associates in 2000) and J.D. Power and
 Associates (2002). For more information about the J.D. Power and Associates
 Distinguished Health Plan Program, visit http://www.jdpower.com/healthcare.
 
     About Connecture
     Connecture is solely focused on delivering integrated web-based sales,
 service and process automation solutions to the insurance industry. Connecture
 has automated elements of the insurance sales and service process for over 70
 health plans and insurers, and its solutions currently support the sales and
 servicing of 9 of the 20 largest health plans and insurers in the country. Its
 industry-proven solutions encompass the entire spectrum of multi-channel
 insurance sales and services for small group, large group and individual
 markets. Connecture offers an end-to-end business process transaction platform
 consisting of focused modular applications that fully integrate with existing
 legacy systems. Connecture's solutions have proven to deliver increased sales,
 enhanced broker loyalty, improved back-office efficiencies, lower customer
 acquisition costs, and lower overall operating expenses. For more information,
 visit the company's website at http://www.connecture.com.
 
 

SOURCE  Connecture, Inc.