In a recent series of two articles (Part 1 and Part 2), CRM Buyer made the case that health insurers should look to outsourcing to build up their CRM capabilities.

The article points out that health insurance companies have historically been behind the curve when it comes to understanding their customer base, being slow to build the 360º customer views that are common in other industries. The articles offer several explanations, including customer reluctance to use health insurance sites, mergers creating significant IT integration challenges, and a market that traditionally sold to intermediaries, not end users.

Suggesting that challenges in the employer-sponsored marketplace will lead to more individual and small group customers (a prediction likely strengthened by government-sponsored changes in the market). This will result in more health insurance customers with a direct say in their coverage choices, and a greater need for CRM systems to ensure customer satisfaction.

Given the business challenges that health insurance will face over the next several years, outsourcing of CRM functions may be the best way to ramp up this capability quickly and effectively. This will likely lead to sales opportunities for both health insurance specific and CRM specific technology and BPO companies over the next few years.