Independence Blue Cross is adding bricks and mortar as a new component to its digital healthcare strategy.
Independence Blue Cross, one of the largest healthcare insurance companies nationwide and the biggest healthcare payer in Philadelphia, yesterday opened a new 10,000-square-foot facility adjacent to its headquarters in downtown Philadelphia.
The new facility dubbed Independence Live is designed to be a customer service and community health and wellness space that features plenty of ways consumers can go online to shop for insurance, deal with other health insurance tasks and access a range of financial, healthy living and fitness programs.
At the center of the Independence Live space is an area Independence Blue Cross calls its technology arcade. The space was constructed to resemble the look of Apple’s popular stores where customers can walk in and interact online with an Apple device or computer and in person with an Apple customer rep.
The Independence Live technology arcade features a range of desktop computers, tablets, smartphones and wearable devices consumers can use to try out various web self-service health and wellness tools and mobile apps. For example, Independence Blue Cross employees can teach consumers how to use an Apple Watch to download and use a fitness app or use a smartphone camera to scan a pill bottle for a pharmacy refill.
Another section of the Independence Live space features a web-enabled customer service center with kiosks and desktop computers staffed by seven full-time agents. At the customer center, consumers can work with an Independence Blue Cross employee to pay bills online, sign up for or renew insurance over a secure web connection or ask for help with a claim.
“Today’s consumers expect convenience and personalized service,” says Independence Blue Cross president of commercial and consumer markets Brian Lobley. “Through Independence Live we are simplifying the health experience and providing the right tools in the right place to help the members of our community become better educated healthcare consumers.”
The Independence Live center also includes a fitness room and classes, a kitchen for healthy cooking demonstrations, services such as free blood pressure screenings and a community meeting room.
Independence Blue Cross has yet to say how much it spent to build out Independence Live. But Independence Blue Cross says Independence Live is the latest in a series of initiatives to make its approach to selling and managing health insurance more consumer-driven.
Independence Blue Cross also offers plan members access to IBX Wire, a customer service mobile app available in Apple iOS and Android versions, and IBXexpress.com, an online portal for tasks such as reviewing coverage, changing a consumer’s primary care physicians and accessing downloadable forms.
“At Independence Blue Cross, we are providing experiences that are personalized, engaging, and relevant,” says CEO Daniel J. Hilferty.
Date: September 13, 2016