Florida Blue and Carnegie Mellon partner to help members make better health decisions

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., April 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Florida Blue, the state's leading health insurer, announced a partnership with Professor George Loewenstein of Carnegie Mellon University to develop consumer behavior analytics and testing strategies to help the company better engage with consumers so they can make more informed decisions that will lead to improved health outcomes.

Loewenstein, considered one of the pioneers of behavioral economics, is the Herbert A. Simon University Professor of Economics and Psychology in the Department of Social and Decision Sciences, as well as co-director of the Center for Behavioral Decision Research at CMU. Additionally, he is director of behavioral economics at the Center for Health Incentives at the Leonard Davis Institute of the University of Pennsylvania. 

"This is a really exciting initiative," Loewenstein commented during a recent visit to Florida Blue. "We have an opportunity to increase member engagement using well established findings from behavioral economics research, but also to pioneer, and test, new approaches."

As a starting point, Florida Blue and Loewenstein will collaborate on projects focused on improving member program participation, increasing medication adherence and understanding members' information preferences. The goal is to make it easier for members to make choices that enhance their health. For example, medication adherence might improve by removing the barriers associated with taking medicine such as transportation, by providing mail order prescriptions. Member engagement may improve by simplifying the complexity of health care. Understanding that every member is unique, more customized digital tools may address members' personal needs.

Allen Naidoo, Florida Blue vice president and chief analytics officer, agreed. "The more we learn about the people we serve and the more we understand about them, the better we can help them improve their health and their lives."

Svetlana Bender, PhD., director of behavioral sciences and analytics at Florida Blue, noted, "Our goal is to help our members achieve their personal health care goals, by understanding how we can help them navigate the health care space."

About Florida Blue
Florida Blue, Florida's Blue Cross and Blue Shield company, has been providing health insurance to residents of Florida for 75 years. Driven by its mission of helping people and communities achieve better health, the company serves more than 5 million health care members across the state. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Fla., it is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.

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SOURCE Florida Blue