Ideon Blog

**Ideon is the company formerly known as Vericred. Vericred began operating as Ideon on May 18, 2022.**

Let’s face it, the world we live in is becoming more and more digitally focused. Technology has become the primary means to reach modern consumers. Innovation is a must for success in the future of health insurance. This is the reality facing insurance carriers today. While changes in technology present several challenges, they also create significant opportunity.

The Modern Health Insurance Consumer

According to Pew Research, millennials are now the largest generation in the U.S., with a population peak predicted for 2036. These young consumers are digitally savvy. They’re digital natives and have never known anything but the innovative digital world. Technological advancements, and the millennials’ ability to make rapid adjustments to their technology habits as innovations are introduced, are the norm. 73% of millennials make purchases directly on their mobile devices. Using social media, they look for the opinions of their peers before making purchases. And, according to a recent study cited on Entrepreneur.com, they routinely comparison shop on mobile to get the best value and shopping experience – a habit that the market is just starting to capitalize on.

The millennial generation are becoming today’s business decision makers. They’re small business owners. They’re working their way into the C-Suite. And they’re health care consumers. Thirsty for smart solutions, immediate choices and intuitive user experiences from every brand they interact with, they have extremely high standards. And who can blame them? This is the generation of Google, Amazon, Apple and Uber.

A New Industry Catering to the Healthcare Customer Experience

Purchasing health insurance may never be as easy as booking a flight on Expedia, but health insurance will follow the industry footsteps of travel, cellular and retail. Consumers demand it. And because consumers are demanding it, an entirely new industry has come into existence in the last few years: digital health, an industry composed of technology companies that are pushing today’s innovation envelope. Digital health companies range from health insurance sales and enrollment apps, to HR and benefit platforms, to health insurance utilization tools, doctor referral apps, health engagement platforms, care management websites … the list goes on and on. They’re health and insurtech platforms like Zenefits, Stride Health, bWell, ZocDoc, GluecosePath, and Zest Health, companies transforming the way health insurance is purchased and used. They’re nimble, flexible, and 100% focused on using technology to improve the customer experience – whether their customers are individuals, employers, brokers or patients. Technology is what they do, and health insurance data is what they use in their products.

Insurance Carriers, Meet Cutting-Edge Health Insurtech Companies

While large insurance companies have endless amounts of expertise and knowledge, it can be a challenge for them to stay nimble, flexible and transparent – which is what the future is demanding. How will insurance carriers respond to consumer demands for a more technically up-to-date experience? They’ll do it by leveraging the platforms of today’s digital health and insurtech companies, which have the technical expertise to build innovative experiences that attract the modern consumer. To take advantage of health insurtech platforms, carriers need “only” connect to them.

Unfortunately, it can be challenging to connect with modern insurtech platforms. The legacy technology that the carriers run on doesn’t always sync with the new capabilities being built in today’s market. It’s as if they’re two separate technology languages – and they usually are.  So how does a forward-thinking insurance carrier bridge the gap between their data (often housed in older systems) and the emerging platforms that will enable them to provide the customer experience that today’s insurance consumers demand?

Vericred has a way.

Think of Vericred as the go between, the bridge that closes the gap between carriers and today’s insurtech platforms. Vericred provides a modern-day data translation layer, a health insurance data platform (comprised of benefit design and rate, provider-network and formulary data) which allows carriers to leverage digital health companies without investing in infrastructure or technology. Insurance carriers provide Vericred access to their data. Vericred then normalizes and structures that data and operates as a single-source API, delivering it to those building the digital, consumer, employer and broker-facing platforms that are starting to take off. Inclusion in this centralized data layer will allow carriers to reach their consumers through today’s technology, without their having to be a data or tech company. Vericred is already working with some of the most prominent health insurtech platforms on the market. It’s the point solution that connects carriers with today’s digital platforms, allowing insurance companies to stay focused on health insurance

Health insurance consumers are increasingly tech savvy. They’re the digital natives who demand and expect that they’ll be able to take care of all the business of their personal and professional lives online – whether that business is booking a trip, hailing an UberX, or buying their health insurance. Opportunity awaits the millennial-minded insurance carrier that’s able to provide a modern customer experience for today’s health insurance consumers.