|
 |
| July 9, 2013 |
|
|
IBC transforms business operations to better serve customers |
|
- increase flexibility and efficiency in administering health care;
- provide tools for managing costs and improving outcomes;
- establish a coordinated health care system that rewards doctors for keeping members well and hospitals for providing safe, effective care.
Serving customers well in this dynamic environment requires scale to operate efficiently and agile technology to innovate, which is why we have engaged with Highmark in a vendor agreement to leverage their technology and migrate our customers to a new core operating platform over the next two years.
The new operating platform offers increased flexibility and efficiency in designing and administering benefits and enables us to provide solutions such as:
- New spending account products. Advanced capabilities will make processing, servicing, and reporting easier and less time-consuming for employers. It will also give members more robust tools to make informed decisions about how they spend their health care dollars. These fully integrated medical, drug, and spending account products provide streamlined enrollment and expanded member capabilities such as the ability to pay a provider directly and a comprehensive, easy-to-read plan activity statement that shows their account balance.
- More product innovations. An expanded product portfolio that will feature new and different pricing options, such as reference based-pricing, value-based benefits, and tiered provider networks.
- A new health management program. An expanded suite of health management products and services to help customers target their employees' health needs and create a workplace culture that encourages healthy lifestyle choices.
In 2013, we are laying the foundation for transforming our business, and have developed detailed plans to migrate customers to the new operating platform. The timing of a customer's migration is based on their renewal date and other factors.
Customer migrations will occur in phases, beginning with a select number of mid-market (51-99) customers migrating on November 1, 2013. The majority of customers will migrate in 2014, and most customers will follow a migration schedule that aligns with their renewal date. The proposed schedule is as follows:
- November 1, 2013:
- Select mid-market groups (51–99)
- Begin processing claims for the Federal Employees Program and BlueCard® members from across the country on the Highmark platform (up to 500,000 claims by the end of 2013).
- January 1, 2014 (First migration date in 2014):
- Small groups (2–50) with January 1 renewal dates
- Select mid-market (51–99) and large groups (100+) with January 1 renewal dates
- February 1 and March 1, 2014:
- Small groups (2–50) with February and March renewal dates
- Mid-market and large groups (51+) will not migrate during these two months
- April 1–December 1, 2014:
- Small groups (2–50), mid-market and large groups (51+) with April—December renewal dates
- January 1–March 1, 2015:
- Remaining mid-market and large groups (51+) with January—March renewal dates
We are committed to ensuring a smooth transition for you and your customers, and we have teams in place to guide, educate, and support you throughout this process.
Changes will have a positive impact for customers and members
The migration requires changing many aspects of how both you and customers do business with us, including a new account structure, payment processes, enrollment procedures, and updates to our employer and member websites.
Ultimately, all of these changes will reduce the administrative tasks of managing a health plan, allow for more robust data reporting and analytics for managing costs and outcomes, and give members unparalleled opportunities to become engaged in achieving health and wellness goals, and new tools and information to help them make smarter financial decisions related to their health.
Communications and sales tools will be available
We've created customizable communications and a comprehensive resource guide, to help you understand the new capabilities, and account administration changes for all of your customers based on group size so you are well-prepared to support customers. These materials will be easily accessible to you on ROAM beginning in August. We will also be providing you with training sessions later this summer and sending you a series of eBulletins that cover each of the migration topics in greater detail.
Learn more about the communications approach we are taking for each segment:
Small group customers (2 – 50)
Mid–market and large group customers (51+)
New customers
For new and prospective customers, the materials we are creating will also serve as helpful guides to general IBC business processes. We will have materials on new products and capabilities and account administration changes available to help you sell new business.
We're excited about the opportunity to better serve our customers as a result of this transformation. We remain committed to executing any improvements seamlessly and efficiently and look forward to working with you during this time.
If you have questions, please contact your IBC account executive.
|
