The Great-West Life Assurance Company is making submission and payment of group benefits claims faster, greener and more convenient than ever for its customers. We asked Brad Fedorchuk, Vice-President, Group Marketing at Great-West Life, how technology is changing the group insurance marketplace in Canada.
Swiss Life: What is Great-West Life’s approach to technology?
Brad Fedorchuk:
Our company views technology through the lens of our organizational strategies, which are: customer service leadership, innovation and process excellence. Great-West invests heavily in technology to support these strategies and ensure that our legacy systems are maintained and enhanced.
Swiss Life: We understand that Great-West recently decided to focus on smartphone applications and text messaging. Why is this?
Brad Fedorchuk:
Mobile is rapidly becoming the way that Canadian consumers choose to interact. Smartphone apps and text messaging are well-established channels. A good example is our free DrugHub app, which lets people use their iPhone to search a database of medications for ingredients, interactions and possible side-effects; set reminders to take medications on schedule; and, if they are running low, remind them to order refills.
Image: DrugHub medicine cabinet screenshot
Image: GroupNet Mobile sign-in screen on iPhone
Swiss Life: How has mobile technology changed the group benefits landscape in Canada?
Brad Fedorchuk:
Mobile technology has increased our opportunities to deliver a superior consumer experience through access to a broader scope of information, faster claims submission and payments, and better understanding of benefit plans. Our Health SolutionsPlus Visa® payment card is a good example of this.
With Health SolutionsPlus, plan members enjoy the convenience of paperless healthcare spending account claims, while plan sponsors benefit from enhanced plan customization, increased flexibility, and options to control risk. Patients simply swipe their Health SolutionsPlus Visa payment card at any approved provider location to pay for products and services on the spot. We are proud to say this is a first for group benefit plans in Canada! Obviously, this helps reduce the number of paper claim forms submitted.
Great-West’s Provider eClaims service offers similar convenience, with on-the-spot claims submission at approved providers, such as chiropractors, physiotherapists and visioncare providers. We currently have more than 15,000 healthcare providers signed up for Provider eClaims across Canada. Meanwhile, Member eClaims saves time and paper for plan members, who can submit many of their claims online through GroupNet for Plan Members, Great-West’s secure online services website for registered users.
Yet more examples of this are Great-West’s free GroupNet Text messaging services. Plan members can get instant access to benefit details, such as their coverage levels, through two-way text messaging. They can also receive texts from Great-West that let them know when their claims have been processed.
To Great-West, technology represents a dramatic change to the group benefits landscape, as it enhances convenience and efficiency for both plan members and sponsors.
About Great-West Life
Founded in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada in 1891, Great-West Life has long been a leader in the Canadian group benefits marketplace. The company has established this position over many decades through its commitment to superior customer service, and its comprehensive selection of cost-effective benefits plans. Great-West Life offers effective benefit solutions for employee groups of any size. The company serves the needs of more than 32,000 plan sponsors and their plan members, and handles approximately 50 million group health and dental claims transactions for its plan members and their dependants each year.
