From Conference Room to Living Room: Insurers Go Remote
Like scores of other businesses across the country, a major part of health insurers’ response to the coronavirus outbreak has involved transitioning employees from working in an office to working remotely. However, that task is not always as simple as telling associates to skip their commute, as one health insurance executive tells AIS Health.
Philadelphia-based Independence Blue Cross started preparing as early as two years ago to allow its employees to work from home as part of its business-continuity strategy, explains Mike Vennera, the insurer’s senior vice president and chief information officer. That effort involved two primary tasks: switching workers from desktop to laptop computers and running small work-from-home pilots with certain departments to troubleshoot any issues that might arise. Vennera notes that Independence was also able to test out its remote-work capacity when large snowstorms hit the Philadelphia region.