Transforming Sales Ecosystem Tools for Efficiency and Scalability

Blue Cross NC Sales Tools Transformation: From Reactive Maintenance to a Unified Ecosystem Vision

Project Overview

As the Senior User Experience Analyst at Blue Cross NC, I initially focused on managing and enhancing the Medicare Guided Selling Tool (MGST), a tool created to help aging commercial members transition into Medicare plans. However, this tool lacked the personalization, usability, and scalability to meet the evolving needs of users and the organization.

MGST, also referred to as Medicare Plan Finder, was designed as a guided shopping and sales experience for determining the best Medicare plan based on personal factors like eligibility, geography, providers, prescriptions, and pharmacies. The tool provided personalized recommendations based on pre-populated user data (for authenticated Blue Cross NC members) or manually inputted data for unauthenticated users.

The project soon expanded beyond MGST to address broader inefficiencies in the sales ecosystem, leading to the development of a unified ecosystem vision. This vision aimed to integrate various sales tools for different segments—Medicare, commercial, and agent-facing—into a cohesive, scalable framework.

Challenges

• ‍Fragmented System: Various tools operated in silos, creating inconsistencies and inefficiencies across consumer and agent segments.‍
• Lack of Personalization: The original MGST lacked personalized healthcare data and failed to provide tailored recommendations.‍
• Scaling Difficulties: The tools struggled to adapt to legislative changes and market needs, creating bottlenecks in scalability.

MGST Business Case‍

• ‍Demographics: With 10,000 Americans turning 65 daily, and 2,000 Blue Cross NC members aging into Medicare each month, retaining and converting this segment became a critical priority. The tool aimed to increase the conversion rate of age-ins from 24% to 50%, which was in line with other Blue Cross Blue Shield plans.‍
• Personalization and Awareness: Existing members aging into Medicare could use their BlueConnect accounts to streamline the plan selection process, while non-members could manually input their data to receive personalized recommendations. Additionally, the MGST aimed to increase awareness of Blue Cross NC’s Medicare offerings, which had lower brand recognition compared to its broader product line.
  

My Approach

Guided Medicare Tool Redesign

I led the user-centered redesign of MGST to create a personalized and accessible plan selection experience, integrating healthcare data for authenticated members and providing manual inputs for unauthenticated users.

• Guided Plan Selection: Simplified the process for users to compare and choose Medicare plans.
• Personalized Data Integration: Leveraged authenticated user healthcare data for personalized plan recommendations.
• Flexible Data Input: Allowed unauthenticated users to manually input healthcare data, enhancing accessibility.

Aligning the Buy Online Experience

Upon recognizing the misalignment between Buy Online (post-plan selection) and MGST, I redesigned the Buy Online 2.0 experience for all market segments:

• Decoupled the payment experience for reuse in various scenarios (e.g., initial insurance payments).
• Introduced pre-eligibility checks to prevent users from investing time in plans they were not eligible for.

Ecosystem Vision & Expansion

Agent Tools & Overlap

During my work on MGST and Buy Online 2.0, I began conceptual work on modernizing agent portal workflows. Recognizing overlaps between consumer-facing and agent-facing tools, I worked to align these front and backstage actions.

Front-stage (Consumer) vs. Backstage (Agent)‍

Despite differing users, the underlying workflows were similar, leading to the conceptual foundation for the Agent 2.0 redesign, focusing on quoting workflows.

Strategic Outcomes

Through iterative design, validation, and ecosystem thinking, we achieved the following:

• MGST Redesign: Improved user experience and reduced call center escalations.
• Standalone Buy Online Redesign: Delivered a consistent post-plan selection experience across all segments.
• Agent Portal Workflow Alignment: Laid the groundwork for the future Agent 2.0 redesign, focusing on quoting workflows and operational efficiency.
• Standard Reporting and Small Group Direct Sales Integration: Integrated standard reporting for employers and produced the first small business-facing quoting tool, addressing the lifecycle of sales, enrollment, and membership.

Key Takeaways

• Proactive Problem Solving: From MGST to Standard Reporting, we worked to address both immediate user needs and long-term ecosystem improvements.
• Scalable Systems Thinking: Our unified approach integrated tools across market segments, ensuring scalability and reusability.
• Visionary Leadership: This work set the stage for future projects like Agent 2.0, driving forward a cohesive, user-centered sales ecosystem.