Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Launches Digital Health Portfolio

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts has introduced a new digital health platform with the aim to “curate market-leading health solutions and provide advice to employer customers on which solutions could best help improve their employees' health,” officials attested in a recent announcement.

The insurer’s Emerging Solutions platform will become available to self-insured accounts with 1,000 or more employees starting July 1. Currently, BCBS’ offering includes solutions for diabetes prevention and management as well as fertility, pregnancy, and parenting. These solutions specifically are: Livongo, a consumer digital health platform that aims to empower people with chronic conditions like diabetes to live better and healthier lives; Omada, a digital provider of the Diabetes Prevention Program; and Ovia Health, which uses technology and predictive coaching to support women from preconception and pregnancy through return-to-work and parenthood.

BCBS of Massachusetts is a health plan for more than 25,000 Massachusetts employers and has 2.8 million members. Its officials said in a press release that digital health “is a hotbed for innovation,” with venture capitalists spending nearly $5 billion in the space last year.

“With the constant surge in new products and services entering the market, it's often difficult for companies to know which solutions can best address their employees' unique health challenges,” they added. As such it was this complexity that led to the launch of Emerging Solutions.

“We've heard from many of our employer customers that they are looking for new ways to help their employees with specific challenges including diabetes, pre-diabetes, and maternity," Debbie Williams, senior vice president of sales and account service, said in a statement.  She added that the insurer’s portfolio of solutions will change and grow over time to match the latest digital health offerings to its customers' needs.