Comcast is teaming up with one of the nation's largest Blue Cross health insurers, Independence Health Group, to launch a new consumer-oriented health-care technology platform.
"Through this collaboration, we will explore how we can best use technology to enhance how consumers access and use healthcare services, which we know at times can be frustrating," said Daniel J. Hilferty, Independence president and CEO, in an announcement of the new venture.
The partnership has grown out of the firms' work together on health initiatives in the Philadelphia area, where both companies are headquartered. In February, Comcast and Independence collaborated on an innovation conference, hosting early-stage health IT start-ups focused on value-based care and improving patient health outcomes.
"Independence is a company steeped in innovation and completely committed to the consumer experience," said Sam Schwartz, Comcast chief business development officer. "We're excited about this new partnership and the opportunity to work together using technology to help improve the effectiveness and efficiency of patient communications and education."
The firms did not specify a timeline for the launch of the new platform, but their venture comes at a time when health insurers and hospitals are increasingly looking to technology to help boost patient satisfaction, as consumers and employers are pressing the industry to cut costs and make it easier to access care.
At the same time, tech firms like Apple, Amazon, and Alphabet's Google have looked to play a bigger role in the $3 trillion health market, with mixed success. Apple recently launched a collaboration with more than three dozen hospitals to help patients gain access to their medical records on their phones. But Amazon, after months of exploring getting into the pharmacy business, has found it too challenging to break into the health-care supply market according to sources familiar with the situation.
Independence Health and Comcast say they plan to develop the platform that patients can access nationally; the health insurer has more than 8.5 million members across two dozen states.
Comcast is the nation's largest cable and broadband provider, and the parent company of NBCUniversal and CNBC.