More Fun Than Talking About Insurance

May 21, 2009 · Comments

Humana Innovation Center Imagine getting invited to visit an insurance company’s headquarters. Woooo! Will there be popcorn? Now, imagine that the folks inviting you also very kindly hosted your Inbound Marketing Bootcamp (including providing seating for over 100 folks, breakfast, break snacks, lunch, and afternoon snacks). Well, of course you’re going to say yes, because they’ve just made the gesture that you’re of value to them, so it’s good to be polite. (No, they are not a client, but man, I will do my damnedest to change that, as I dig what they’re doing.)

Visiting Humana in Louisville, Kentucky, was a treat through and through. Greg Matthews, Director of something-or-other at the Humana Innovation Center (and his colleague Christopher Hall) blew me away within minutes of entering their sanctum. Let’s start with the fishbowl, we hear.

Humana Innovation Center

The fishbowl turns out to be a multi-user visualization of a group of people’s pedometer steps. The fish moving faster than others and higher up in the water have more peds (footsteps) than the fish lower in the tank. The goal every day is to have your fish swimming high and fast. What makes the game fun is that you can identify who in the office is assigned to which fish, and really compete (in friendly ways) towards a health-forward goal.

“We’re not interested in solving sickness problems. We want to work on promoting health,” said Matthews. He said this in lots of variant ways for the duration of our visit. They are really into figuring out ways to make getting and staying healthy more interesting. **Update: Okay, other folks there work on those kinds of things like helping sick people, but that’s not the focus of this particular group.**

You’ve gotta check this out.

Humana Innovation Center

A bike. Big deal, right? What if Humana teamed with Trek bicycles to build the ZipCar for bicycles? That’s what B-Cycle is. It’s a bike-sharing program that they launched. They tried it out at the US Republican National Convention and the Democratic National Convention with great fanfare (Greg has the numbers; I don’t retain such data well), and again, it’s about bike-sharing which will promote health.

Greg Matthews We tried out several other innovative products in various modes of testing and development. There were Nintendo Wii games that did more for fitness, this kind of “Simon Says go do ____” game that used a watch-like fob to know which person beat the other person in an impromptu race. In sum, everything that Greg Matthews and all the other folks at the Humana Innovation Center is doing has something to do with productizing better wellness. Why? Maybe because it’s more interesting than waiting for people to get sick and then fixing them.

What’s interesting to think about are the other ways an insurance company might empower wellness. Remember the 90s? A newsletter that told you to eat more cranberries might pass as proactive. Now? If we’re to take what Humana’s Innovation Center is doing seriously, it looks like the way to make us all more healthy is to help us have fun doing it. Yep: serious fun. Sound familiar, Jeff?

Good on you, Humana people.

What do you think? You ready for healthy + insurance company to = fun ?

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  • Chris,

    LOVED this post. Its a great example of being able to make what I would not think of as an exciting industry - lots of fun.

    And I hate to bring it all back to business and marketing - but it gives them a story to tell - a fun, engaging story that separates them from competition. That's not only good for job satisfaction, but I'm sure it is a hell of a great tool for reaching potential clients. How many people talk about how great their insurance co is? I don't. But if they gave me a story to tell (and provided kick ass service) it would be easy to become a brand evangelist.

    @ryancmiller

    Thanks for this one.
  • Chris, thanks for this post. We had a fantastic time hosting you, Justin and the gang on Tuesday. And it's ALWAYS fun to show off the work that we're so excited about - particularly to such an engaged audience. [Note: I have video footage of Chris Brogan racing around the floor of my office playing a health game. Available for a fee ;-)]
    I also wanted to clarify that the work that a few of us are doing in the innovation center is highly focused on happiness, and designed for health . . . but that caring for and managing illness is still a massively important part of what Humana does.
    Come back any time, Mr. Brogan!
    GM
  • Chris,

    I happened to be fortunate enough to attend the Inbound Marketing Bootcamp, and wanted to say thanks to you, Justin, Amber, and others - for delivering such a great seminar - and to Humana for being such a wonderful host.

    As for the venue - how freaking beautiful is the view from that building? I was really impressed with Louisville, and how nice it was downtown. It seems like there is a lot of excitement there, and the people there were such gracious hosts.

    It is great to see Humana exploring new ground. As you alluded to there are not a lot of case studies or models for them to safely and boringly follow. Kudos to them for their willingness to explore uncharted territory and not just taking the "cover your ass" approach. My guess is that it will yield untold benefits for them and their customers.
  • christy
    Chris, this is indeed intriguing. I believe that the future of decent healthcare in the world is going to be based upon preventative care rather than sick care. So this stuff makes good sense.

    Unfortunately, just a wee bit of research shows that - outside of their innovation group at least - Humana is not well-regarded. Refusal to pay, slow payment, etc. I'm waiting for an insurance company that manges to get it all right. Or at least adequate. It's not brain surgery.

    Treat people like human beings, honor your agreements w/o arguing or jonesing the system for your favor, and work toward a healthier population. Why can't anyone do that?
  • Keep an open mind, please
    Anecdote is nice and all. And of course there are competing interests between different stakeholders in healthcare that will never go away (without socializing the entire system, including docs).

    But from a consumer satisfaction perspective, Humana is an industry leader. J.D. Power just recently ranked Humana health plans as #1 in two geographic regions and within the top 3 in 2 more, same as last year.

    Yes, health insurance is an industry that historically has not been very consumer-friendly. Humana has made plenty of mistakes in the past and continues to fumble at times, but I promise you that consumer satisfaction is of major importance across the company, and we are putting our money where our mouths are. J.D. Power is just one of many ways our hard work is being validated.
  • I'm certainly willing to keep an open mind but the health insurance companies have an uphill battle to improve their public image which is at an all time low. The Industry as a whole is seen as an obstacle to true healthcare reform. Perhaps you guys can change that.
  • stlevine
    The best way for all health insurance companies to improve their image would be to put their money where their mouths are. Here in Austin, Blue Cross Blue Shield uses tons of radio and billboard ads to tout wellness. Problem is -- they don't pay for it. They don't give employers better rates to encourage wellness. Their pharmaceutical programs don't pay for tobacco cessation drugs, etc...

    I'm so glad Humana is ranked so well on J.D. Powers rating of health insurance companies. Problem is, that's a pretty shallow pool to swim in.

    Take your bikes out to the real world. Pay for employers to do that for their employees who are covered by your plan. THEN you'll have a real story.
  • What Chris didn't mention was how well received the Boot Camp was for our organization. Talk about rocking a crowd. People will be talking about it for some time around the halls of Humana.

    Thank you. :)
  • Great post! What Humana does is a good example of what other insurance companies could and should do to reposition their image. I'll definitely be interested in hearing more about the company and its initiatives.
    Thanks for sharing.
  • Ed
    I hope they do become a client Chris. They seem to 'get it'.

    Perfect match for them learn from you,
    and create a healthy, prosperous path forward.
  • Gotta love hearing positive stories about your hometown and the companies that participate to make it great. I had the privilege to attend the Inbound Marketing Bootcamp @ Humana and have to second all the great comments out there about the space, decor, SERVICE, free food, the view, free food, and people in attendance. Yeah I like free food.

    Say what you will about policies that don't work, I think it is always great to see a company make an effort to add to the solution in some way. I mean lets face it, there are a few companies out there, that don't bring anything innovative or new or socially positive to the table.

    At least someone at Humana realizes that they need to give something back. Especially, when it is cool toys and tech.

    To our hosts at Humana and all the other #imbc's out there, thanks for a great time.
  • It's great to see a healthcare company taking proactive steps for employee and customer wellness. It gave me a new perspective on Humana and some exciting new tools they have in store.
  • It is great to see even Insurance companies making an effort to have a social reach!
  • Guh. I wished work was like this when I was an insurance agent. Maybe I would not have retired.
  • mindofandre
    Those guys at Humana are doing some awesome stuff and I'm really glad you got a chance to check them out Chris. From health games to social media, Greg and the gang always keep me on my toes with what they're doing next! Good stuff.
  • I was about to comment that this group, like most others calling themselves "Innovation Centers" was more of an Improvement Center...but some of the examples look like they actually are running paradigm shifting experiments. So maybe they do get the difference between improvement and innovation. If they do, then they likely have three years of funding before someone shuts them down. The "Chesbrough Constant" of innovation-program-destruction in large enterprises is rarely broken.
  • I got a real kick out of this, John, because we DO absolutely run in cycles. But in my experience, our cycles have been shorter in duration . . . the pendulum swings toward wild and crazy experimentation for a few months; then swings back to "let's make some incremental changes."
    I think that it actually works pretty well, because it takes time and effort to make wild experiments into real business applications . . . and that, at the end of the day, is the point. Thanks for the comment!
  • I was skeptical at first, but that sounds like it would be a pretty cool tour to go on (even though there was no popcorn offered from the sounds of it). I liked the fish tank, besides being nice to look at, it is a clever way to promote a fun healthy work environment. A little competition never hurt anyone, right?

    I bet other departments within Humana don't have as much fun as the Creative Innovations Dept.
  • Chris,

    Today is my birthday. May 22. This post is a great birthday present. Thanks for your awesome words. Can't wait to see you again.
  • avilbeckford
    Thanks for sharing this information because when I think of an insurance company I do not associate it with innovation. Most medical conditions can be avoided with lifestyle changes and we've heard it before that prevention is better than cure.B-Cycle is a great idea. What are ways in which we can use this information and apply to our work? How can we anticipate what our customers need or what the market needs and provide it.

    Good luck Chris and I do hope you secure them as a new client!

    Avil http://www.twitter.com/avilbeckford
  • Humana has been on the Behavioral edge for some time and models like this one are sure to prove out multi-variate testing that can be leveraged with their audience for profit and fun to gain loyalty members.

    Progressive has been doing models like this for some time and has always taken a behavioral look into the "why" instead of relying on standard Insurance models, albeit in the Auto space, which apply here as well.

    Advanced means exist to drive intelligent decisions, companies just need to use this in a manner that shows a cross-section of applications.

    Well done Humana.

    Dean Holmes
    http://deanholmes.me
  • Chris...you've enlightened me! I would never have pictured an insurance company to be so wellness focused. But, it makes sense. It's great that they have an Innovation Center. Sounds like a very fun place to work and this set's them apart in the minds of the average consumer. We don't typically view an insurance organization to be innovative and promoting health. Interesting post. Thanks!
  • Lisbeth
    Hi,
    I got caught up in the bike-thing in this post. About sharing bikes that is. There is a great example of this in the city where I live. Oslo, Norway. We have a thing here called city-bikes. The system is really great where you can sign up, you pay about 12 dollars for one summer season (april-sept./oct.) and then you're good to go. You recieve a card in the size of a credit card, and with this you can borrow a bike anywhere in the city where they're placed. A good example for any city or region.

    http://www.visitoslo.com/en/?cat=58934%26amp;tl...

    This promotes health, it's environmentally friendly and it's always fun to explore a city by bike! :)

    Just to clarify, I do not work for the company that promote these bikes. I'm a private user.
  • I had no idea the Innovation Center had so many other projects. I'm curious to hear how their Humana Games 4 Health initiative is going. We have a couple of our Playnormous Health Games on their site (Lunch Crunch and Bubble Trouble) but we're not seeing many people visiting them--according to our analytics anyway. Did they mention HG4H at all?
  • Erica Bell
    Its great to see a healthcare company that is being proactive and trying to help people before they get sick, but most major insurance companies do have wellness programs avaliable. At least Humana is taking an higher initiative and investing in actual physical exercise, but we all know we can lead a horse to water but can't make them drink. Most people usually only go to the doctor when something is wrong, so I think it would be great if they could combine the fun fitness programs with a lot of education so that people acutally pay attention to their bodies and know when something is wrong, until waiting until the last minute.

    That's a great post!
  • BigEdinTX
    This is a great post.
    And kudos to Ryan,. What an engaging story to tell. Humana can ride a tank of virtual fish and bike sharing, to the bank.

    Chris, you certainly have a discerning nose for great stories. This story will have legs.

    Situation - Businesses and institutions all over America wrestle with how to motivate people to exercise and eat better.

    Situation - insurance agents struggle for leads because talking about insurance is boring and frustrating. TO cap it off, every prospect is pissed off about rising premiums. Agents need a break.

    Situation - Insurance agents through e - services, can represent a hundred different insurance plans. How does an insurance innovator stand out in what appears to be a commodity market, all equally unattractive?

    Solution revolves around virtual fish and bikes for borrow and other widgets up the sleeve.
    Alors. Agents have a compelling story to tell. Businesses have a hope for improving wellness activities and a promise of lower premiums. Everyone is more eager to have a conversation.

    Result: more agents want to talk about wellness and Humana.
    Result: More HD TV fish tanks hanging in American businesses.
    Result: Corporate campuses spring up with traipsing empowered by B-stations emblazoned with Humana logos.
    Result: Smiles at Humana, I think I can hear giggling...
    Result: People hanging out around the fish tank instead of the water cooler -oh, well...

    And this story has legs across media
    It is a story politicians will love
    It fits our new civic minded national attitude.
    It is green and sustainable.
    And it will blaze about the blogging world.

    And it is a win in any direction you look. Good for country. Good for business. Good for you and me. Good for economic growth in any domestic economy.
  • Very good for the Insurance companies to promote wellness. I hope this leads to changes in the system. I think it is still messed up but at least someone is promoting change.
  • I am impressed by companies like Humana that look for ways to help us all get healthy. For an insurance company to do this is avant-garde. But they are gadgets. Maybe necessary. Yet it seems we need to inspire people to get active.

    We have been trying to do this with our BeeWell Miles program (www.beewellmiles.com) where we encourage anyone to get active. How? We donate 15 cents for every mile walked/run and logged on our site to Breast Cancer Network of Strength. So not only are you getting healthy, but you are helping to make a difference in the lives of others.

    Sure we have the online tools to help you understand how all this walking or running is helping you. We are not the first ones with a calorie counter or a nutrition tracker. Nor are we the first ones with a mapping tool to calculate the mileage of the route you have just walked or run. But we feel that we are the fone of the first ones to really inspire everyone to get out and take that first step towards a healthy lifestyle.

    I don't mean this to be a self-serving post, but more a reminder that whatever tool we use to get active, it still all depends on us being inspired to take that first step. Nike had it right - just do it.
  • jeffpulver
    Happy to learn that there is a least one other company out there that also takes having fun seriously. :)
  • Seriously Chris, I respect you and Justin Levy, and enjoy reading your blogs, but this post and Justin's post on Workshfting (where I got the link to yours), feel like some pimped out payback for Greg and the Humana sponsorship of the Enterprise 2.0 conference.

    I was outraged by the comment above where Greg says, “We’re not interested in solving sickness problems". We want to work on promoting health,”. NICE.

    No, the update did not help! It made it worse: "gee it's the other guy's job, we are just trying to have fun with what we do here!".

    Nice timing too, what with all the rallies going on around the U.S. this Saturday
    (6/27/09) to promote change in the health care industry for those who do not have a chance of getting decent health care in the U.S.

    No, I think it will be a LONG TIME before I ever equate: healthy + insurance company to = fun.

    Right now all I equate is: health insurance + billions in profit - people who die for being denied care = disgusting.

    But hey, thanks for putting a light spin on it for a Friday!
  • Thanks for this information . It is useful for me.
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