Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey has been recognized as one of the nation’s top telehealth providers based on customer satisfaction.
The data analytics company J.D. Power released its 2024 U.S. Telehealth Satisfaction Study last week, with Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey named among those with the highest overall patient satisfaction in the country.
The not-for-profit health insurance carrier that covers nearly one-third of all New Jersey residents was ranked eighth in overall customer telehealth satisfaction, on the list of 11 insurers. The demand for telemedicine has grown since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. In many ways, it’s the modern “house call” for doctors, according to a 2022 study on telehealth.
Medical claims data shows that although in-person care is still chosen most of the time, the overall percentage of telehealth claims has ballooned from 0.1% in 2019 to just around 5% at the close of 2021.
“Most consumers agree that telehealth is tough to beat when it comes to convenience and accessing care quickly, but it is not the ideal channel for all healthcare encounters. The wide variation in patient experience is something telehealth providers, insurers and public health officials will want to monitor closely,” said Christopher Lis, managing director of global healthcare intelligence at J.D. Power.
The J.D. Power study measures customer satisfaction with telehealth service experience based on seven factors: level of trust; visit with provider met my needs; people; digital channels; ease of receiving care; scheduling of appointment; and helping to save me time or money. The study is based on responses from 4,070 healthcare customers who used a telehealth service within the past 12 months. It was fielded from September 2023 through July 2024.
Here’s the full ranking of insurers that made the list, along with their overall satisfaction score, based on a 1,000 point scale:
- Humana, based in Louisville, Kentucky — 747
- Florida Blue, headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida — 734
- BCBS Texas, located in Richardson, Texas — 733
- BCBS Michigan, based out of Detroit, Michigan — 721
- UnitedHealthcare, operating out of Minnetonka, Minnesota — 715
- Anthem Blue Cross of California, headquartered in Woodland Hills, California — 714
- Aetna, based in Hartford, Connecticut — 713
- Horizon BCBS New Jersey, located in Newark, New Jersey — 695
- Cigna, located in Bloomfield, Connecticut — 693
- Kaiser, headquartered in Oakland, California — 686
- BCBS Illinois, operating out of Chicago, Illinois — 665