iCHOICES Industry: Medical Aid Provider Key Solution: CIC Interactive Intelligence & Dictaphone Voice Logger

ATIO recently assisted medical aid provider, iChoices, to compete more aggressively in the cut-throat world of healthcare provision.

Background

After 22 years servicing the government sector, medical aid provider, iChoices took a strategic decision to aggressively target the private sector. Most people would agree that medical aid provision is a grudge purchase. Many individuals are sold or over sold products they do not necessarily require, which has given the medical aid industry a bad reputation and also presents a fairly large barrier to entry. iChoices' objective was to turn the grudge purchase into one where the individual is in control and comfortable with the purchasing decision and receives unprecedented service at the same time.

"This is a massive undertaking for anyone in this industry. Outside of the perception challenge, the fact that we are trying to change a mind set within a very regulated environment also presents us with limitations and additional challenges," says Gavin Atkinson, General Manager.

Due to the regulatory environment iChoices or any other provider for that matter cannot simply set its own pricing or provide unique benefits. The regulator is very clear in its expectations of companies such as iChoices and what they should be providing to the market. "
It is not as easy as working within a free enterprise environment, we had to look at other ways to differentiate ourselves from the well-established competitors in this sector," continues Atkinson.

Solution

It was finding this differential that resulted in iChoices' technology journey with ICT solutions and services specialist ATIO Corporation. It is a well-known fact that medical aid products remain fairly similar from one provider to the next. What counts, according to iChoices, is service. And service, to iChoices equals people and technology.

The company employs over 70 people. A team Atkinson believes is one of the best in the industry. "What we required to create a competitive differential was a technology platform to compliment the team and assist us in providing a never experienced before service from the initial meeting, throughout the entire customer relationship. We needed easy customer access and transparency all the way. This would ensure our customers are empowered to manage their health care themselves" comments Atkinson.

iChoices decided to partner with ATIO and had two basic requirements: first was the ability to allow brokers to communicate with the call centre via any medium - fax, email, cellphone or normal landline. The second was enabling each broker to conclude sales whilst in the field and have the peace of mind that the application is in the system and the information is accurate.

In addition both the broker and customer also have the option of using the Web site as a management tool. Due to ATIO's Interactive Intelligence solution, brokers are able to manage their portfolios, track their commissions and ensure their debit orders have gone through. Similarly, customers can double check their personal details, track progress of claims, access a medical database and update their individual plans.

An important component of the solution was a mobile application for iChoices' brokers. ATIO has provided a platform, which enables each broker to capture an application online via a handheld device whilst with the customer. It is then synchronised and sent to the iChoices server via a cellphone and processed. If it is after hours, the application will be processed the following day and the customer and broker will receive an SMS confirmation with a membership number the next morning. If it is during business hours, the customer receives an SMS almost instantaneously, as does the broker, confirming the application.

"This kind of service is almost unheard of in SA and definitely assists our brokers to provide speedy and accurate assistance to customers," comments Atkinson.

Result

The move has been a fairly dramatic one for the iChoices team who have had to migrate from a paper-based environment into a paperless and process orientated environment. The management team also had to ensure that the consultants working in the call centre were efficient communicators across all communications mediums.

"The ATIO call centre and mobile application has undoubtedly provided the iChoices team with a viable and competitive differentiator. The customer has tighter control over the information processed and brokers work within a trusted environment, which positively impacts their success," says Jean Sinovich, ATIO's service delivery director.

According to Atkinson, ATIO is not just a solutions provider but more a partner. The team went out of its way to understand iChoices' requirements and proactively suggested several ways to ensure its business goals were met. "We have signed a Service Level Agreement with ATIO for continued back-up support and will embark on a call centre upgrade in the near future."