Monday, November 11, 2013

The latest and greatest in health care innovations

“The health care system is just so complicated.”

I’ve been hearing that complaint a lot these days, and I admit that I agree.  Part of improving the health of our nation involves making the health care system simpler to understand.

That’s why UnitedHealthcare is constantly at work on new innovations that simplify the health care experience.  For example, our “Health Information Chauffer” program helps schools keep track of children’s medical records.  Instead of keeping children’s important medical information stored in a file cabinet or putting the burden on the school nurse, the “chauffer” program keeps a digital record of children’s medical information.  Parents enter their children’s information only one time, and then update as needed.  The method allows for improved medication tracking and dispensing and better monitoring of chronic conditions such as allergies, asthma and diabetes.

Part of a partnership between UnitedHealthcare and Force for Health Foundation, the pilot program is taking place for the first time in a Pennsylvania school district.

We are also testing a new flexible health insurance product called Wrks4Me that aims to bring simplicity, flexibility and affordability to employers and employees at large corporations.

Wrks4Me helps employees choose from multiple health plans to find the one that best fits the needs of their families.  The Wrks4Me website portal allows employees to see the benefit choices available to them, use decision tools to help them understand the option that fits their financial and health situation, and enroll online.  This also helps employers cut down on the cost and administrative tasks associated with health plan administration.

The pilot program is currently being tested by a few large employers, but we expect positive returns for both employees and employers.

While these programs are still in early stages of testing and development, they are great examples of some of the most innovative ideas to help simplify our health care system.

For more on the latest UnitedHealthcare innovations, check out our innovation news.