IT services provider CSC has launched a data-mining and predictive-analytics platform for health plans called Payer Optics 360º to enable insurers to get a view of the lifestyles and health of customers.
CSC announced the new suite of applications Sept. 12.
Analytics software is a tool health plans can use to research how to retain members and improve health outcomes under the Affordable Care Act, or what some people call Obamacare.
“Health plans face challenges-continually escalating costs, an increasingly complex customer relationship model and a rapidly changing consumer market with new regulatory demands-and yet these challenges present an opportunity to create a more loyal and engaged customer,” Mark Roman, president of CSC Global Healthcare Operations, said in a statement.
With citizens mandated to purchase health insurance under Obamacare, health plans could use software such as Payer Optics 360º to understand the health of potential customers and potentially lower costs to the health care system by improving health outcomes, according to CSC.
Offered as a cloud or on-premise application, Payer Optics 360º features advanced analytics and proprietary predictive modeling that builds on data health plans accumulate on customers.
“Powered by our experience in building large-scale data analytic platforms and databases, CSC created Payer Optics 360º to drive a deeper understanding of consumers so health plans can positively impact the attraction, retention and management of their customers,” said Roman.
The new product includes CSC’s Health Intelligence Platform, a tool that delivers data based on membership and claims information.
Health Intelligence Platform allows health plans to separate customers into segments according to marketing, geo-demographics and lifestyle profiles, CSC reported.
By building consumer profiles using the software, health plans are able to gauge which members might want to further invest in their health, or purchase insurance, CSC suggested.
The data-mining tools will also provide health plans with info on how best to communicate with and engage customers to help them manage their health, CSC reported.
CSC offers similar technology for the property and casualty as well as financial services industries.
The predictive-analytics tools enable health plans to link databases across a company to monitor consumer behavior and health statuses. Predictive analytics allows the health plans to perform data mining so they can determine which prospective customers have healthy lifestyles and adherence to their treatment routines. The software can also gauge who might subscribe to health magazines or donate funds to health organizations, CSC reported.
Predictive analytics is also used in health care to spot trends in patient populations. Similar applications include IBM’s Content and Predictive Analytics software, which incorporates technology similar to the Watson supercomputer to identify patients’ health patterns.
CSC’s Payer Optics 360º also includes an assessment and road map tool, which assesses the ability of a health insurer to focus on the needs of its customers, which include employers, providers and members. It helps insurers come up with a tech infrastructure road map.
CSC supplements Payer Optics 360º with its consulting services in data strategy and governance as well as master data management, information delivery and big data implementation.