Over the past few years, a significant trend in the healthcare industry has moved towards proactive patient care. There tends to be a focus on providing consumers with tools that empower them to live a healthy lifestyle. Mobile applications have become a natural fit as they provide consumers with on-the-go access to tools and engage them with their insurance provider. With the explosion of mobile applications consumers now expect to be able to interact with their healthcare companies easily. Mobile apps in the healthcare industry also provide benefits for the provider including an additional channel for customer engagement and brand loyalty.
Recently, Kony Solutions, a mobile application development platform (MADP) provider, has been selected by Aetna as the technology platform for its updated Aetna Mobile health application.
Launched in 2010, the Aetna Mobile app helps Aetna members access valuable services such as claims status, prescription drug pricing and electronic ID cards. By migrating the Aetna Mobile app to the KonyOne Platform, Aetna was able to add numerous new features including an urgent care finder and information access for non-members. The Aetna app is available for iPhone and Android devices.
“As part of our commitment to creating a health care system that is more convenient, connected and cost-effective, it’s important for us to provide members with the information and services they need, when and where they need them, “ Dan Brostek, head of member and consumer engagement, Aetna told HealthTechZone.. “Kony’s platform has allowed us to provide our members with additional resources that improve access and convenience.”
One of Kony’s primary goals with the Aetna Mobile health app is to help consumers and health care providers make smarter and safer decisions in ways they couldn’t before. In addition to providing valuable information at the right time, Kony hopes that these tools will help consumers become more engaged with their own healthcare.
“We strive to have essential information at someone’s fingertips at the point where it matters most. Beyond the Aetna Mobile health app, we also have initiatives like a pilot texting program that helps members who have been diagnosed with diabetes more easily and successfully control their condition and avoid complications,” said Brostek.
Participants in the texting program will receive educational text messages and reminders about diabetes screenings and tests, medications, tips on healthy eating and exercising and general health information, and our early results on the program have been very positive.
Kony’s flagship product, KonyOne mobile enterprise application platform, is a “Write Once, Run Everywhere” technology that enables developers to deploy apps across more than 10,000 mobile smartphones/tablets/kiosks and operating systems from a single code base. The KonyOne Platform can be deployed across more than 10,000 devices, seven operating systems and multiple channels, including HTML5 and mobile web, hybrid, native, mixed-mode, kiosks, desktop and tablet applications.
Competing platforms force developers to write new code for each and every mobile operating system or device, resulting in significant delays every time a company wants to make a change or upgrade their mobile app. With Kony, developers can truly “write once,” and then run everywhere – including the ability to make changes and upgrades rapidly without the need for rebuilding or republishing the mobile app.
“Aetna was able to add numerous new features to its mobile health app including an urgent care finder and information access for non-members. It’s an easy-to-use resource that helps Aetna members access a number of valuable services, including claims status, prescription drug pricing, electronic ID cards and personal health record,” said Ed Gross, director of product development, Healthcare, Kony.
“Customers expect a high quality experience, with stunning User Interface and rich features, and they want to have that experience on whatever device they choose to use. That probably is the number one consideration for companies looking to keep customers engaged via mobile,” he said.
In 2012, Kony was positioned as a “Visionary” in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Mobile Application Development Platforms (MADP) report. Kony has also been named a Gartner Cool Vendor, a “Most Innovative Company of the Year” by the American Business Awards and was chosen as one of Fast Company’s 100 innovative Apple-affiliated achievers.
Kony’s “Visionary” position speaks to the strength of our development platform. In fact, Gartner noted that Kony provides the “widest addressable audience” for applications among all of the vendors profiled in the MQ.
“We pride ourselves on providing the most robust platform on the market -- companies choose Kony to avoid the complexity and hassles of mobile deployments,” said Gross. “Our growth comes from earning new business -- just last year, we added 30 new customers to our roster.”
Edited by
Rich Steeves
