A few decades ago the laptop that I am currently using to type this article and the laptop you are likely using to read this would not have been available to us. It may seem like centuries ago, but the first laptop was actually developed in the 80s. Since that time, we’ve all grown quite attached to our beloved computers that we can carry with us wherever we go. Technology has certainly grown over the last few decades and now we are also in love with our smart phones and tablets.
This portable technology has been altering the way our society handles things for some time now. Holiday shopping is handled online rather than in stores and communication is completed through emails and text messages rather than through letter or phone call. Similar to most industries, healthcare has been highly impacted by the rise of technology, the internet, and the societal addiction to laptops, phones, and tablets.
Sure, The healthcare industry has certainly seen its fair share of changes over the course of time, but the development of technology has seemed to make these changes come about more rapidly than ever. Some of the effects are more obvious (i.e. how technology has improved the success rates of surgeries) while others are a little more surprising.
The ways in which hospitals were affected by new tech are pretty clear cut, but the ways that the health insurance industry changed due to technology are a little less obvious. It turns out that more people are referring to the internet to purchase their health care than ever before. Due to these changes, many companies such as Health Insurance Innovations are turning to web-based health insurance plans. This means that instead of meeting with a health insurance agent face-to-face and discussing you options or being pushed into something you do not want or need, you are given the option to simplify the process of signing up for health insurance. Those laptops we were discussing that were not previously available to us are now being used to purchase insurance plans.
The application process is quicker, easier, and more streamlined than ever before. This change was forced on the industry by a society with their faces buried in their social media feeds and whose motto has become “I want it now”. Many people prefer communicating via technology, forcing companies like Health Insurance Innovations to take advantage of this idea and focus on web-based insurance plans. Now they are using their cloud-based technology to provide electronic communication between consumers and agents.
How will the health industry be influenced by technology advancements in the future? Only time will tell, but the last year has certainly shown improvements for health providers. There is potential for health insurance to become entirely web-based, or perhaps surgeries to be completely run by technology without any doctors present. For now, we can only be thankful for the improvements in the health industry and sit back to see what will happen next.
