By Matt Ferrari, Chief Technology Officer, ClearDATA
Twitter: @cleardatacloud
Host of CTO Talk – #CTOTalk
At some point in our lives, all of us will interact with a health insurance company. The way we did that last year as compared to how we will do it next year, or in five years may not be recognizable. And I believe that most of us would agree that will be a good thing. There is a driving market trend to personalize the consumer experience in healthcare, and forward-thinking health insurance companies are laser focused on making the transition from transactional to consumer-centric models.
But, as my daughter would say, the struggle is real. A key factor in that struggle is many insurance companies are still wrestling with legacy infrastructure and on-premise data centers that make accessing the necessary apps, data, analytics, and processes for personalization difficult. But change is happening, and in my role I’m fortunate to talk to healthcare veterans that are truly change agents in this space.
In this podcast, my guest is Aaron Oboh, a seasoned technology veteran. In his role as VP of Security and Infrastructure at Zipari, Aaron is part of the change I reference above, and he’s working to provide health insurance companies with the consumer experience platform they need in order to personalize the member experience.
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Aaron and I talk about a few major trends in this recording. One is the need for big data insights that are actionable. That’s going to require predictive analytics and a 360º view of the member/patient. That means a lot of data has to be freed from silos – and this should go without saying – that data has to be protected at rest, in use, and in transit. The security mindset needed today has some resemblance to the past, but new tools and new, increasingly sophisticated threats must be considered at each step of the build and deployment. Success means a better, more responsive member portal and mobile apps that meet patients and members where they are.
This drive to meet members where they are is front of mind for health insurance companies who are hearing members express (emphatically) that they want the same consumer experience from their health insurance they get from their retail and banking partners. The public has collectively begun to demand easier views into benefits, payments, scheduling and more.
Another war cry from the fields is the need to address the social determinants of health, and to get in front of the staggering cost of chronic disease. Again, that’s going to take speed, agility and scalability in a secure, compliant cloud. Aaron talks about how he envisions this unfolding over the next few years and how he and other healthcare IT companies are learning from the other industries that adopted cloud and consumerization first. He’ll share what he’s doing to bring healthcare insurance companies the apps and APIs they need to ensure we get the consumer experience we want.
As two guys who did our days in data centers and now are part of this exciting wave of emerging cloud technologies, it was great to get his view of the landscape, and what the new world of SaaSOps can bring.
About the Show
On CTO Talk, technology expert Matt Ferrari discusses the issues, challenges, and opportunities transforming healthcare technology today, all from the CTO point of view. Tune in because when CTOs talk, health IT listens.
This article was originally published on ClearDATA and is republished here with permission.