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Tomorrow's customer service model: from representative to advocate.

Article Excerpt
Health insurance is central to the physical and financial health, not to mention the peace of mind, of the lion's share of the US workforce. In 2005, 60 percent of all Americans, about 150 million people, received health insurance through their employers. HR professionals and others who choose carriers and administer insurance work overtime to select the best combination of quality, cost-efficiency, and customer service they can. How those decisions play out can directly affect employees' perceptions of their company.

"In addition to quality and cost, employers tell us that customer service is the most important factor in choosing a carrier," says Karen Atwood, senior vice president, major/national accounts, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois. "Many of them have lean human resource staffs, so they want to be sure that their carriers' customer service staffs manage issues well. They don't want to spend their own time dealing with health insurance issues."

Health Care Service Corporation (HCSC) is a non-investor-owned, mutual legal reserve company, that operates Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans in Illinois, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas. HCSC is one of the largest and fastest-growing health insurers in the country, serving more than 11 million members and handling more than 50,000 calls and 550,000 claims per day. Its mission is...

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