Americans Want Insurers and Physicians to Use Technology to 'Coach' Them to Healthier Habits, Reports New National Survey From...(es for information rather than doctors o...),Health

In addition, despite insurers making great strides in recent years to add self-help tools and other improvements to their Web sites, almost half (49 percent) of insured Americans feel their health plans support them only when they need to visit a doctor, instead of helping them stay well. Of consumers who did access insurers' Web sites, 49 percent used it primarily to find a provider and 48 percent were looking for coverage information.

Technology for Health Engagement

The survey results point to the fact that technology is not yet helping Americans proactively manage their health. Currently, consumers reactively turn to health Web sites looking for information about a current issue or illness (68 percent) instead of to learn how to become healthier. However, consumers seem to be ready to incorporate technology into their health behavior. Almost four in five (77 percent) of Americans find the idea of technology helping solve their healthcare needs as "inviting" instead of "intimidating." While they prefer e-mail (66 percent) and the telephone (57 percent) as the best channels to communicate with their insurers, some also are open to text messaging (10 percent), instant messaging (7 percent) and videoconferencing (4 percent).

"This research is a wake-up call to the health insurance industry to start untethering much of the online tools and services they've tied to stand-alone member self-service portals and weave them into the consumer's daily digital world," said Chad Pomeroy, vice president for Innovation and eBusiness at WellPoint Inc., the nation's largest health benefits company, with approximately 35 million members in its affiliated health plans.

"That's why WellPoint is working with Microsoft to make health informat
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