LYNDHURST, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Vitals today announced the release of SmartShopper NextGen, bringing a new level of confidence and convenience to the health care shopping experience to help consumers select better-value care.
SmartShopper NextGen is the next evolution of Vitals’ health care incentive and engagement program that has saved employers over $55 million in health care costs over the last four-years. This latest release brings best practices from online retail experiences to health care shopping, to provide increased confidence and convenience for consumers.
SmartShopper NextGen provides an enhanced, retail-like user interface that makes the shopping experience convenient and familiar for its 2 million users. The latest version makes it simple and fast for consumers to shop for medical procedures, providing easy-to-understand options with expanded quality ratings, credentials and accreditations that allow consumers to compare doctors and facilities.
Leveraging over eight years of deep consumer experience with medical shopping, SmartShopper NextGen features “SmartShoppers like you” information that highlights how many other consumers have used a specific location and earned a reward there. This new feature helps consumers answer the question “What are other people like me doing when purchasing healthcare?”. Consumers can clearly see what shoppers have done and what they have to say in the form of ratings and reviews.
Personalized one-on-one support is also available through the new PAT Chat capability. Consumers can talk to a member of Vitals’ Personal Assistant Team (PAT) to receive help online to understand their care options, change a doctor authorization or even schedule an appointment.
Just as online retail sites are designed to create buyers, these latest enhancements are designed to convert members to better value care. Prices for medical procedures can vary widely. For instance, a knee surgery can vary in price from $17,000 to $61,000 $16,000 in the same city. SmartShopper NextGen allows members to research their options, and if they choose a high-quality, lower-cost facility, they are eligible for cash rewards.
“You can’t just fit the consumer into your product. It needs to be designed for them from the ground-up,” said Heyward Donigan, President and CEO of Vitals. “By serving consumers first, our program succeeds in saving money for them and also our employer clients. It aligns with an employer’s overall benefit strategy, advancing health goals, motivating employees to shop for care and sharply reducing health care spend.”
Of course, convenience is a large part of why people shop online. To that end, SmartShopper NextGen has a quick, predictive search that helps consumers easily find hard-to-spell or lesser-known medical procedures and surgeries. The system also features more reward-eligible facilities, giving consumers more opportunities to earn cash when they choose better-value care.
“We are passionate about helping people find the best quality care at the best price,” said Donigan. “Our aim with SmartShopper NextGen is to create an experience that feels familiar and comfortable to consumers, to provide them the confidence they need in redirecting their care to a provider that is high-quality and lower cost.”
About Vitals
Vitals empowers everyone to shop for their health care like an expert. Our integrated high-tech, right-touch platform helps people select better, more affordable care. Vitals leads the market with incentive and engagement programs proven to drive new levels of activation. Our solutions achieve measurable and sustainable savings for consumers, employers and health plans. Over 280 million people each year rely on Vitals to help them decide on their care with conference.
