Now Health International launches Medical Provider Search App

Now health app will help consumers find medical provider within Now’s cashless network and make submitting claims much less time-consuming

A leading international private health insurance provider, Now Health International, launched a mobile app in September 2015 to help consumers find a medical provider within their cashless network and submit reimbursement claims. The app is available for iPhone with an imminent Android launch expected.

Specifically, the app allows users to search for medical providers based on geographical location or speciality. It can be used for inpatient and outpatient treatment and will also display a list of the top 100 providers that are closest to the location of the customer. Customers without access to Now Health’s cashless network can also use the app to submit reimbursement claims using a simple web form, which is in the same format as the physical claims form. The app has the option to store and reproduce previously filled claims information, which makes new claims submission faster.

Key app features include:

• Search for a medical facility by region, country, city, type or medical speciality
• Find a medical facility near you, using GPS-enabled map search
• Create a favourites list of medical facilities you regularly use
• Call the medical facility directly from the app
• Add an appointment to your Smart Phone calendar directly from the app
• Submit a claim when you’ve had to pay and want to reimburse your medical expenses

Now Health’s Marketing and Ecommerce Director, Alison Massey says, “We are really excited to offer this new mobile app as part of our proposition. Customers want fast access to our cashless network of medical providers and when they’ve paid for treatment, to claim back their expenses. We already process our customer’s claims in five working days or less and the addition of the app will make submitting claims much less time-consuming. We will continue to update and add to the app over time, which will include offering the functions in Simplified Chinese in the near future”

Benefit to Customers

• Anytime, anywhere services using the app
• Quick emergency assistance
• Faster and easier claims submission
• Enhanced customer experience
• Ease of doing business

Benefit to the Insurer

• Reduces claims processing time
• Reduces customer-servicing costs by mobilizing processes
• Attracts new customers with a low claim-processing time proposition
• Cross-sell/up-sell opportunity through personalised recommendations based on automated data aggregation capabilities
• Builds a direct, personalised communication channel with customers
• Improves customer experience and loyalty by frequently engaging with the customer
• Improves analytics-led decision making and marketing strategies
• Monitors customer sentiment and interest to identify future medical needs.

Customer-facing mobile applications are a key focus area for many insurers across the globe and Now Health’s mobile app is another example of this macro trend in the industry. While attracting new customers is necessary for business growth, insurers cannot ignore key digital imperatives such as ease of doing business, customer experience and customer engagement. In this regard, the launch of the Now Health’s App perfectly aligns with its strategy and approach to continuously look for ways to make the entire insurance process as simple and as accessible as possible for its customers. Furthermore, the app’s self-service functionality will also reduce Now Health’s customer servicing cost and improve the claims processing time without any additional effort.

Although this launch represents Now Health’s first venture into the app ecosystem, it will be interesting to see what enhancements Now Health make to the app in order to propel the app to the next level in ways that other insurers have done such as Allstate, Progressive and Geico. Based on moves by other insurers, enhanced features could include:

1. Push notifications and reminder services based on previous provider search data and current location
2. Integration of human assistance (further click to functionality)
3. Facility to track claims status in real-time
4. Option to educate customers and encourage better health habits

Now health announces launch of mobile app

Now Health launches medical provider search app