Infotech Lead America: SAS said its analytics provides insights to create programs, products and services to address consumers’ insurance needs.
By helping health plans adapt to the changing health care landscape, the SAS Membership Portfolio Optimization enables plans to provide a more personalized health insurance experience and better service while managing health care costs for consumers.
“One of the effects of health care reform is that consumers are ‘shopping’ for health care in a retail environment and are expecting health plans and providers to better understand their individual health needs,” said Graham Hughes, MD, Chief Medical Officer for SAS Center for Health Analytics and Insights (CHAI).
“SAS provides plans with predictive model capabilities similar to those used in other consumer industries, like retail and banking. By better understanding customers, health plans can design products and engage members to provide top-notch programs, customer service and support, allowing the health system to deliver consumer-focused patient care, ultimately producing better health outcomes,” Hughes added.
The SAS Membership Portfolio Optimization solution is part of the collaboration between CHAI and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina (BCBSNC) to apply customer intelligence to health plan business models. BCBSNC’s centralized customer-analytics platform will improve its ability to understand new and existing customers.
“When health insurance exchanges open, approximately 30 million consumers will enter the health insurance market, bringing with them varying backgrounds, needs and expectations. We’re working to be ahead of the curve by ensuring we are listening and are able to respond to the actionable insights we gain from the solution with SAS,” said Michael Parkerson, vice president of Marketing at BCBSNC.
“This SAS solution is different from anything else in the marketplace, enabling a plan to develop individual member profiles and offer customized communications and interventions to improve health and well-being,” said Arjun Aggarwal, managing director for Healthscape Advisors, a management consulting firm supporting SAS to implement this solution at BCBSNC.
