UnitedHealthcare and Anthem BCBS Provide Best Health Plan Member Digital Experiences, Corporate Insight Research Finds

NEW YORK, Sept. 10, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- New health plan research from Corporate Insight (CI) identifies UnitedHealthcare as the leader in desktop digital experience and Anthem BCBS as the top firm in mobile app experience. The 2024 Health Plan Experience Benchmarks evaluate 23 leading health insurance firms across 240 desktop and mobile attributes to provide a detailed comparison across functionality, design and usability. The separate desktop and mobile reports identify overall health plan leaders on each platform, as well as top experiences in eight key categories. The research finds that health insurer member websites generally outperform corresponding mobile apps in terms of functionality, but certain areas, like prescription management, are growing in popularity on mobile.

"The Health Plan Experience Benchmarks represent an important step forward in understanding the digital health insurance landscape," says Lauren Roncevic, Senior Director of Research at CI. "These reports offer a thorough analysis of health plan digital platforms, providing insurers with actionable insights to enhance their digital presence and better serve their members."

While UnitedHealthcare took the top spot in desktop—and was the only firm to earn a spot in the Leading tier in either report—Aetna and Anthem BCBS followed closely behind atop the Achieving Tier. For mobile experiences, Anthem BCBS took the top spot, with UnitedHealthcare finishing second and Independence Blue Cross taking third. Mobile experiences had lower scores on average, lacking the full suite of capabilities available on desktop.

The studies uncovered a range of user priorities for digital health plan platforms. Access to a customer support phone number ranked as the most important feature on both web and mobile platforms, described as "very important" or "extremely important" by 77% and 79% of CI survey respondents, respectively. However, many website users also placed high value on coverage and benefit details (76% of web respondents), security settings (75%) and profile information (73%). This suggests that while access to support remains crucial, users are increasingly looking to digital platforms for a wider range of services.

"Users value speaking to a live person above other digital features, which suggests that members might not know about or use the full suite of capabilities available to them," Roncevic explains. "Insurers can do more to showcase their self-service offerings and online resources. This will ensure that members see health plan websites and apps as destinations to help them achieve their goals."

The research also highlighted significant opportunities for insurers to enhance their digital offerings. "Prescription management stood out on mobile platforms, ranking as the most frequently used feature and top ten in importance," notes Stephanie Chan, Senior Analyst at CI. "This represents a key area where insurers can focus their efforts to improve mobile app usage and satisfaction."

Chan also observed ongoing efforts across the industry to enhance design: "Over the past year, we've seen several significant improvements. Companies like Horizon Blue and Independence Blue Cross have implemented major navigation revamps, while UnitedHealthcare and Aetna have introduced improved search tools. These enhancements are effectively guiding users towards self-service options, a trend we expect to continue as the industry evolves its digital strategies."

Insurers featured in the Health Plan Experience Benchmarks are:

• Aetna
• Anthem BCBS
• BCBS of Illinois
• BCBS of Kansas City
• BCBS of Massachusetts
• BCBS of South Carolina
• CareFirst
• Cigna
• EmblemHealth
• Florida Blue
• Harvard Pilgrim
• Highmark BCBS
• Horizon Blue
• Humana
• Independence Blue Cross
• Kaiser Permanente
• Mass General Brigham Health Plan
• Oscar
• Select Health
• Tufts Health Plan
• UnitedHealthcare
• UPMC Health Plan
• Wellmark

Categories analyzed include:

• Claims
• Coverage & Health Information
• Design & Navigation
• Digital Care Tools
• Health & Wellness Resources
• Prescriptions & Pharmacy
• Profile & Settings
• Support

About Corporate Insight

Corporate Insight (CI) delivers competitive intelligence, user experience research and consulting services to the nation's leading financial services, insurance and healthcare institutions. As the recognized industry leader in customer experience research for over 30 years, we have been the trusted partner to corporations seeking to improve their digital capabilities and user experience. Our best-in-class research platform and unique approach of analyzing the actual customer experience helps corporations advance their competitive position in the marketplace.

For media inquiries or to schedule an interview with an analyst, contact:
Patrick Flood
646-876-7535
[email protected]

SOURCE Corporate Insight