PUBLISHED TUE, JUL 9 2019 3:45 PM EDTUPDATED TUE, JUL 9
2019 4:40 PM EDT
KEY POINTS
·
Health insurers aren’t
known for their consumer-friendly design.
·
Anthem is looking to
change that with a bunch of hires from Apple.
·
It has added a half dozen
current or former Apple employees in recent months, according to LinkedIn
searches and people familiar with the matter.
Health insurance isn’t
exactly known for its consumer-friendliness. But Anthem,
one of the largest insurers, is looking to change that with a slew of recent
hires from the company best known for its commitment to user-friendly
design: Apple.
In Silicon Valley,
technology companies like Apple and Alphabet are
increasingly trying to bring their technology to the health sector and are
building out dedicated teams of medical experts. They’re chasing a $3.5
trillion market that’s been slow to adapt and change, believing that their
expertise in user-friendly design can help improve the experience for
consumers. Traditional health companies, like insurers and hospitals, are
reacting by partnering with tech giants but are also adapting their own
offerings and touting their digital friendliness.
In the past few months,
Anthem has hired Warris Bokhari from Apple Health, as well as Toni Trujillo
Vian (a 24-year Apple vet), and senior machine learning researcher Stefanos
Giampanis, according to LinkedIn and two people familiar with the matter.
The health insurer also hired
Ted Goldstein, a former Apple vice president from 2002 to 2007, to run its AI
and health data efforts, about six months ago, and some lower-level folks like
Berick Bacani, a former Apple operations specialist, as a UX designer on the
digital team.
The focus on hiring from
Apple dates back a few years: Anthem’s vice president of commercial Aneesh
Kumar, who has been at the company for a few years started his career in the
1990s as a product manager at Apple. And Rajeev Ronanki, the company’s chief digital
officer, previously worked at the consulting firm Deloitte on health
innovation-related projects.
It’s not just Apple
employees migrating over to Anthem. Another high-profile recruit from the
technology world is Udi Manber, who previously headed up Google’s search
efforts and is now a technical advisor at Anthem.
As Anthem scoops up talent
from Apple and other tech companies, Apple has been recruiting heavily from the
medical sector.
Scattered across its health
teams, Apple has installed dozens of doctors to
offer advice and steer product decisions. It’s currently focusing on aggregating
clinical information via Health Records, developing biosensors for the Apple
Watch, and health apps for things like reproductive health and sleep
monitoring.
Apple CEO Tim Cook has
previously said that he believes the company’s “greatest contribution to
mankind” will be its efforts in health. The health team currently reports to
Apple COO Jeff Williams, who has a strong personal interest in the sector.
Meanwhile, Anthem CEO Gail
Boudreaux has emphasized the company’s continued investment in its digital
offerings, including putting budget behind its consumer tech and artificial
intelligence teams.
The company is working on a
number of different tech projects, such as a partnership with the health-tech
start-up Doc.ai to detect allergy patterns, and Act Wise, a website for health
plans to better manage their employees’ medical benefits.
Anthem competitor UnitedHealth has
also touted its commitment to digital technology. It has a “consumer digital health platform ”
called Rally, and one team there focuses on providing rewards for people who
meet their health goals. Aetna, another health insurer owned by CVS,
is working with Apple on an effort to reward members for
meeting health-related milestones via their Apple Watch.
Anthem and Apple did not
immediately respond to requests for comment.
No comments:
Post a Comment