NEW YORK, Feb. 19, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Health Benefit Exchanges (HBX), both public and private, present a new set of opportunities and challenges for health plans, but the vast majority of business leaders at health plan providers are confident they will be successfully participate, according to the results of a poll conducted by KPMG LLP, the U.S. audit, tax and advisory services firm. A very significant aspect of that success will involve transforming their marketing efforts from a business-to-business focus to a business-to-consumer focus.
When asked how confident they are in their management's ability to successfully participate in HBX, 16 percent said very confident, 42 percent said confident, and 22 percent said somewhat confident. Only three percent were not at all confident. Seventeen percent did not know.
"A crucial component for these organizations will be the conversion from a B2B to B2C model, which includes the capabilities to engage the right customer, in the right channel at the right time with the right message," said Joe Parente, advisory principal with KPMG's Healthcare practice. "Clearly, health plan leaders are increasing their focus on the retail side of operations, and they are also taking a much closer look at their models and redefining their strategy to be more competitive in this new landscape."
The good news is that most of the people we polled say their organizations are currently or will begin marketing and delivering products that are consumer focused in the next 6-12 months. In fact, when asked about the biggest challenge in building out a customer centric organization, executives most frequently cited technology, corporate culture, people / skill set, budget, and senior level buy-in.
The KPMG Healthcare & Life Sciences Institute conducted a webcast on "Preparing for exchanges: Moving from B2B to B2C" in late-January. The results reflect the responses from 100 health plan executives who self-selected to participate in the webcast poll. Respondents consisted of members of these organizations who have awareness of, or responsibility for, their organizations' product and marketing programs. A replay of the webcast can be accessed here.
The KPMG Healthcare & Life Sciences Institute (http://www.kpmginstitutes.com/healthcare-life-sciences-institute/) provides a forum for healthcare business leaders to gain insight into emerging issues, consider approaches to help balance risk and controls and improve performance, and further explore the accelerating transformation within the healthcare industry, both domestically and globally.
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