Cigna is a health insurance company which has millions of customers around the globe

Subject:WritingPrice:4.98 Bought3

Share With

Cigna is a health insurance company which has millions of customers around the globe. The healthcare industry is booming and is one of, if not the number one, fastest-growing industry in the country. In order for Cigna to keep up with the growing number of customers they use business intelligence (BI) to not only appeal to their customers but to stay competitive in their field. Using BI helps Cigna support new plans and information for their members, which supports product development and performance management (Enrado, 2007).

The information that needs to be analyzed to attract customers includes the services in high demand, the amounts being covered due to the increasing costs of services rendered, and the combination of healthcare plans (dental, health, vision).  Looking at employer health groups, employers want to see if the plans they are paying for their employees are being backed by quality insurance, to ensure they are staying healthy enough to not their hurt production or services. For example, if Cigna offered a free cancer screening during the year within their insurance plans there is a large possibility if cancer is found it will be found in an early stage, resulting in less expensive treatments. People tend to not go to the doctor when needed, due to costs and plan coverage, so it is important for Cigna to offer competitive yet quality plans to draw in more clients and customers, while keeping their current ones happy.

Cigna has used business intelligence to offer options and services to help lower health risks overall. Another way they used BI is to merge with Express Scripts, a special pharmacy that specializes in mail in prescriptions, in order to reach to the areas where healthcare insurance is needed but Cigna cannot reach. These areas that Express Scripts use allows Cigna to access groups that include governmental agencies, certain employers, and other health plans (Newhard, 2018). Express Scripts has offered Cigna differentiated medical trends which they use to build their plans around and have encouraged Accountable Care Organizations (ACO) to reward primary care doctors for improving their client’s health outcomes. Cigna has used BI to identify health risks to lower medical costs, which in turn cuts costs and increases profits for Cigna in the long run (PPC, 2015).

Looking to the future, Cigna wants to personalize their plans to the individual for more effective results (Newhard, 2018). Business intelligence will be needed if this is the goal, due to figuring out what each customer or client needs to make the personalization possible. For example, if employer health group insurance is purchased for an individual, they then end up being stuck with the same benefits and offers. Even when purchasing insurance personally they ask if you have a health problem and they offer you plans based on your responses. Moving towards the personalization goal, if they could set it up to where if blood pressure issues run in your family, the plan could offer preventive services to combat the expensive medications and possible surgeries that could come occur down the road. Again, Cigna would make more of a profit with these preventive measures to help avoid the health problems becoming worst. With the help of BI, Cigna can make this goal possible while helping Americans stay healthy.

 

Enrado, P. (2007, July 26). Cigna turns to business intelligence. Retrieved September 11, 2020, from https://www.healthcarefinancenews.com/news/cigna-turns-business-intelligence

Newhard, A. (2018, July 20). The CEO of one of the largest health insurers in the US explains the problem with healthcare in America. Business Insider. Retrieved September 11, 2020, from https://www.businessinsider.com/cigna-ceo-express-scripts-merger-and-problem-with-healthcare-2018-7

PPC. (2015). Cigna Collaborative Care Program. Retrieved September 11, 2020, from https://www.pcpcc.org/initiative/cigna-collaborative-care-program