Customer portals from health insurance companies – attractive, but often still unknown
18.04.2016 14:50
Online portals are now a natural part of the service world of statutory health insurance companies. However, according to a study by the market research institute Today and Tomorrow and the Leipzig Health Forum, most health insurance fund members do not take advantage of this offer from their insurer. The study gets to the bottom of the reasons for this.
According to the results, fund members across providers are often not even aware that their own insurer even offers online customer portals. Up to 80 percent incorrectly believe that there is no customer portal. Overall, 20 percent of those surveyed said they regularly use their cash register's online offering, while 13 percent said they forego it.
It is also striking that the oldest group surveyed, those aged 50 to 65, use the customer portals most frequently. Because there is still little need for contact with the health insurance company, only 14 percent of 18 to 29 year olds handle their concerns online. For those aged 30 to 39 or 40 to 49, however, it is 21 percent.
Regarding the previous use of online customer portals, it can be said that almost half of those surveyed have already changed personal data online, such as bank details or addresses. 29 percent also had access to their personal virtual mailbox. Few suspect security risks.
Where is the added value?
The focus of the study was on the services provided by customer portals. Customer preferences from the 47 proposed services are rather heterogeneous in terms of age groups. The youngest target group is particularly online-savvy and most wants the certificate of incapacity for work to be transmitted online or virtual appointment reminders (processing of benefits). The oldest target group could also be interested in free access to Stiftung Warentest databases for evaluating medications (improving medical care).
In addition to the given answer options, the study also allowed participants to formulate their own expectations and wishes, which were also included in the study report. In this context, the customer's basic expectation was “to be able to process all matters online” and thus the complete transfer of the health insurance company's processing processes to the online portals. Also specifically mentioned was the “printout of standard prescriptions” or the possibility of “viewing [the] medical history online”.