The 7 Things Your Health Insurance Customers Are Not Telling You

Build a fortified customer service position now? Or wait to be overtaken by the impending seismic shift in power to the consumer? That’s the stark question US health insurers now face, with only one viable answer. This report, based on recent Accenture research, uncovers seven surprising trends in customer relationship management (CRM) for the payer market and reveals the elements of winning CRM formulas in the future. A powerful confluence of trends—from health reform, the explosion in popularity of Consumer Directed Health Care options, and the unprecedented influence that social media imparts to the individual—has given rise to a customer base that is more diverse and demanding than ever before. Perceptive payers will recognize the implications, and move now to develop strong new customer relationships that position them far ahead of those caught in the upheaval unawares.

Right at the forefront is customer service, the entrée to productive customer relationships that will withstand the test of time. Customers have become more diverse and more demanding, wanting service offerings, experiences and communications increasingly on their own terms. They have also become more technology savvy and less shy in broadcasting their experiences. Technology trends like social media have ignited a new consumer activism whose reverberations have only begun to be felt. Insurers operating in this “new normal” face an unprecedented level of competition, unparalleled opportunities to expand, and the commensurate risks of failure.

With customer service emerging as the “X Factor” of high performance, health insurers must understand current customer perceptions, as well as how to shape (and improve) these perceptions for future growth. To help crystallize these factors, Accenture Healthcare conducted a survey of customer attitudes toward the customer service practices of US-based health insurance providers. Using a web-based questionnaire, we surveyed 1,000 customers in the US between late December 2010 and early January 2011.

From this research Accenture distilled the surprises and secrets of customer service that together outline the alchemy behind superior customer service performance.