The ability for individuals to connect with physicians and pharmacies from their smartphone for meaningful, therapeutic exchanges is clearly having an impact on employer and health plan decision-making strategies. This is especially true for self-insured employers offering health and wellness programs.

	"To make the most of smartphone technology, companies need a well-planned mobile strategy."

The potential impact of smartphone technology is huge given that 72 percent of U.S. physicians already use smartphones, which is up from 30 percent in 2001.ⁱ Currently, 17,000 health-related mobile apps are available, with forecasts for the number of users of mobile health services to reach 500 million by 2015.ⁱⁱ Health-related smartphone applications are just beginning to hit the market, providing health plan summaries, pharmacy benefits and provider directories.

Employers who embrace this growing phenomenon will reap the greatest rewards in terms of improving their bottom line through reduced pharmaceutical expenditures, streamlined administration, evidence-based regulatory compliance, and overall employee wellness and satisfaction.

Answering the Call for a Mobile Strategy

To make the most of smartphone technology, companies need a well-planned mobile strategy. Service providers with expertise in this area can help with the deployment of web-based applications to reduce labor-intensive processes currently employed by health plans and pharmacy benefit management (PBMs). Automated tasks such as gathering, integrating and accessing drug claims and formulary data, processing drug prior authorizations, creating one-to-one consumer engagement communications, and providing 24/7 access to web-based reporting tools to measure changes in pharmacy utilization and adherence are just a few of the services employers should consider as they strategize for mobile integration.

This combination of analytics and automated service not only improves the quality of healthcare, but also creates efficiency and empowers employers to simplify pharmacy benefit administration—while dramatically enhancing its value.

Employees accustomed to carrying their mobile devices around with them throughout the day will be more receptive to the collection and receipt of information to better support further programmatic interventions and provide tools for self-managing existing health-related conditions. Some of these tools include ways for checking nearby pharmacies for discounted pricing on prescription drugs and providing immediate access to allergy history, immunization records and lab results.

Likewise, this technology serves as a decision-support tool for healthcare providers and PBMs. It can be used to connect people to appropriate care sites, encouraging more healthy behaviors, reminding people about medication compliance, and suggesting additional prescription drug purchasing channels such as mail-order and retail discount options.

One leading health plan offers a Cost-of-Drug iPhone app that allows members to look up the cost of a medication and find lower-cost alternatives.ⁱⁱⁱ Similar apps allow employees to refill prescriptions or find preferred network pharmacies promoted by their health plan or PBM. This ease of use enables individuals to take greater control of their own health and work more closely with healthcare providers, especially when they are incentivized by the potential for saving money and reducing out-of-pocket healthcare costs. It’s important to lower “first dollar” expenses because more employees are opting for higher deductible health plans, and shopping for deals. In fact, 47 percent of individuals insured through employers have chosen high deductible plans and pay about $133 less for family health coverage.^iv

Making the Connection

Wellness and lifestyle management apps can play an important role in retirement benefits, as well. In general, the Baby Boomer generation will define the next several decades in terms of healthy aging and the role of smartphones. They understand the importance of health; they are quick to embrace new technologies; and, as they reach retirement age, they will create an enormous demand for smartphone apps aimed at simplifying heath decisions for themselves and for their aging parents.

To keep pace with this communication revolution, employers and other payers need to think ahead, but plan now. Consumers are advised to look for health plans and PBMs that offer mobile healthcare services and applications, complimented by mobile-optimized websites that deliver efficiencies, medical trend containment and real value. Ultimately, the best mobile strategy is one that has been designed to give employees the best healthcare experience possible through high-quality wellness programs, affordability and accessibility.

Robert Oscar has more than 25 years of experience in healthcare. Throughout much of his career, Mr. Oscar has developed and implemented successful programs to effectively manage pharmacy benefit risk including pioneering work in the Medicare HMO market. Before founding RxEOB, over a decade ago, Mr. Oscar worked in the medical information systems industry, designing, developing and implementing several different claims analysis tools. Mr. Oscar, a Registered Pharmacist licensed in Virginia, is a graduate of Ohio Northern University and certified in pharmacy-based immunization. Contact info@rxeob.com or 804.643.1540 ext. 221.
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ⁱDolan, Brian; 72 Percent of U.S. Physicians Use Smartphones; MobiHealthNews; May 5, 2010; http://mobihealthnews.com/7505/72-percent-of-us-physicians-use-smartphones/; accessed January 31, 2012.
ⁱⁱStetler, Mark; Trends in Healthcare and Medical Apps; AppMuse; March 30, 2011; http://appmuse.com/appmusing/trends-in-healthcare-and-medical-apps/; accessed January 31, 2012.
ⁱⁱⁱLankford, Kimberly; 30 Ways to Cut Health Care Costs; Kiplingers; http://www.kiplinger.com/magazine/archives/30-ways-to-cut-health-care-costs.html; accessed January 31, 2012.
^ivKennedy, Kelly; “High-Deductible Insurance Plans Are Gaining Popularity”; USA Today; May 31, 2011; http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2011-05-30-health-care-deductibles-hospital-bills-doctors_n.htm; Accessed July 13, 2011.