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Case Study
Mobile Service Strategy and Application Development
Health Care Service Corporation
closerlook developed a mobile version of HCSC's Provider Finder tool.
The strategy summarized market findings, defined HCSC's mobile-service opportunities and provided a timeline for prioritizing projects.
The mobile Provider Finder uses GPS and Google Maps functionalities to help members locate doctors in their area.
The mobile Provider Finder uses GPS and Google Maps functionalities to help members locate doctors in their area.
What we found
HCSC's eSolutions group knew that their members' online experience had been expanding beyond traditional, browser-based portals to include social media and mobile devices. As they explored these changes, eSolutions approached closerlook to help them understand the current state of the mobile market and to determine if members were likely to use mobile technologies to interact with HCSC. closerlook researched trends in mobile-technology adoption and use across several industries. The findings, combined with in-depth conversations with the client, revealed that mobile technologies represented an emerging opportunity to improve the service experience for existing and potential members.
What we recommended
closerlook recommended a detailed exploration of possibilities for mobile applications and tools. Each possibility would be carefully considered against a detailed set of criteria that assessed complexity, device requirements and availability, usability and other factors. Creation of mobile tools would begin with the most promising and relatively low-cost projects. These early successes would build awareness and recognition of HCSC's mobile-service efforts and allow HCSC to gain experience delivering and supporting mobile-service applications. Additionally, they would create opportunities for HCSC to gauge customer response to mobile self-service as eSolutions developed more complex capabilities.
What we delivered
Working closely with the eSolutions team, closerlook identified several opportunities for new mobile tools and mobile versions of HCSC's existing online applications and content. The teams then prioritized the opportunities and created a complete strategy involving two sets of projects—short-term "quick wins" and long-term initiatives that would require more extensive development. The strategy instilled confidence among HCSC's stakeholders by keeping all mobile developments aligned with the organization's overarching service goals and budgetary expectations.
The first project involved development of a mobile version of the Provider Finder, the member website's most utilized tool. The tool allows members to find the nearest physicians, hospitals and other healthcare providers—wherever they may be. Based on the current state of the mobile-device market, development included four separate versions of the application. The most advanced version takes advantage of the iPhone's GPS and mapping capabilities. Additional versions are optimized for the Blackberry and other smartphones, as well as a "lowest common denominator" version that will work with almost any mobile phone in use today.