Advancements in technology continue to transform health insurance. To keep pace with technological developments, industry leaders have shared their insights on everything from data analytics to wearable technology.
The editors at FierceHealthPayer combed through our exclusive interviews with health plan leaders to round up the most thought-provoking and memorable quotes about health IT successes and challenges.
Here are six of our favorite quotes from our news coverage over the past five months:
1. "Philosophically, we're really about choice. How do we create an open environment where we have choice for people and it's not focused on one brand, one product or one app?"
Who said it: Martha Wofford, vice president of Aetna and head of CarePass, discussing the mobile platform's tools that track medication adherence and stress.
2. "If you're a health plan today and you don't have a system in place to make sure everyone has the same information at their fingertips, quickly and consistently, you absolutely must find a tool."
Who said it: Lisa Dettling, director of customer service at Reno, Nevada-based Saint Mary's Health Plans, highlighting St. Mary's opportunity to improve member services infrastructure, which led to happier members and employees as health exchange implementation kicked in.
3. "Overwhelmingly, what we're hearing from doctors is that they're seeing improved cash flow."
Who said it: Victoria "Tory" Bogatyrenko, UnitedHealth's vice president of product development and innovation, explaining how providers respond to its online payment system. The Minneapolis-based insurer has seen a 25 percent increase in online payment transactions each month.
4. "The systems are only a little part of the equation, it's really the partnerships and relationships with the carriers that matter."
Who said it: Christine Ferguson, director of the Rhode Island Health Benefits Exchange, explaining that state exchange computer systems are only part of solution, during a panel dicussion this month at the second national health insurance exchange summit in the District of Columbia.
5. "Payer analytics are just enough to alleviate and prevent an impending 'analytic heart attack.'"
Who said it: Linda McCann, MVP Health Care's vice president of business intelligence, explaining the New York insurer's "data turnaround" that centralized all of its information and implemented rigorous data governance standards.
6. "You can never have enough information, so the key is trying to find a way a way in which you can expeditiously get access to that information."
Who said it: Lisa Feingold, vice president of Clinical Informatics at Boston Medical Center HealthNet Plan, discussing how the 350,000-member health plan invested in enhanced analytics tools to keep up with the demand for information to make good business decisions.