Prime Therapeutics Executives Discuss Customer Experience, Consumerism And Reform At Major Health Conferences

ST. PAUL, Minn., Dec. 5, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- This week, attendees at two leading health care conferences heard from top customer experience and marketing leaders of Prime Therapeutics LLC (Prime). Ingrid Lindberg, chief customer experience officer, gave a keynote address on the importance of well-planned customer experience strategies at the 10^th Annual American Health Care Congress (AHCC). Michael Showalter, chief marketing officer, spoke about engaging employees and the rise of consumerism in a post-reform market at the Institute for Healthcare Consumerism (IHC) FORUM West.

Customer experience: build relationships to drive loyalty
This year, AHCC convened senior health care executives from hospitals, health systems, health plans, and medical groups. The agenda focused on four critical issues facing health care providers and payers - alignment, affordability, innovation and implementation. Lindberg focused her discussion on customer experience implementation and the elements of a successful strategy. She highlighted how any company across any industry can get started and why it's critical to do so.

According to Lindberg, "Delivering superior customer experiences helps build long term relationships and drives loyalty. In an increasingly competitive market, health care professionals and insurers must create solutions that offer industry-leading customer experiences at every interaction."

Individual markets bring need for adaptation
Showalter, who helped spearhead the development of the nation's first consumer-directed health plans, talked to FORUM West audience members about new ways to engage employees as they bear greater responsibility for their own health care. The discussion included a look into why consumerism is on the rise, how health reform was an answer to this upswing, and how and why this could help employers.

Showalter was also the moderator of a panel discussion about the importance of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) in the evolving market. The panel was comprised of pharmacy benefit management executives, a consultant and a benefit manager from an employer group.

"On average people have 11 interactions with their pharmacy each year," says Showalter. "This highlights the need for PBMs to play an active role in the management of costs for both employer groups and members."

About Prime Therapeutics
Prime Therapeutics LLC (Prime) helps people get the medicine they need to feel better and live well. Prime manages pharmacy benefits for health plans, employers, and government programs including Medicare and Medicaid. The company processes claims and delivers medicine to members, offering clinical services for people with complex medical conditions. Headquartered in St. Paul, Minn., Prime serves nearly 23 million people. It is collectively owned by 13 Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plans, subsidiaries or affiliates of those plans. Prime has been recognized by Modern Healthcare as one of "healthcare's hottest companies for 2013."

For more information, visit www.primetherapeutics.com or follow @Prime_PBM on Twitter.

SOURCE Prime Therapeutics