Cigna 2013 Annual Report Download - page 11

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The advantages for our customers are better health outcomes
and a greater sense of security. The advantages for our
employer clients are lower costs and higher productivity.
That provides a logical segue to how Cigna is
working with its customers and clients on a daily
basis. The world is changing: How are your
customer and client relationships changing along
with it?
First, let me oer some background, as context.
Traditional, reactive models of treating illness,
disease and disability are collapsing under the weight of
economic and demographic disruptions. To eectively
respond, health care systems have to evolve and reorient
rapidly to focus on the achievement and preservation of
health and productivity – not only on the provision of
treatment to those who are sick.
To date, the modern health care system has undervalued
the engagement of individuals in their own health, well-
being and health care purchasing decisions. We believe
when individuals are incentivized to engage in value-
based health care; to make healthier lifestyle and health
care access choices; and are empowered by eective
support programs, information and communication –
they can and will make better decisions. This, in turn,
will have a dramatic impact on overall quality of life and
the health care cost curve.
However, particularly in the United States today, individuals
are highly disconnected from, and unaware of, the underlying
cost of health care and the role that individual choice
plays as a key driver of those costs. Although lifestyle and
behavioral choices are major drivers of individual health
care costs, Americans are less healthy than ever, and
medical costs continue to rise. In no other consumption-
based market or industry is there such a disconnect
between individual choice and financial obligation.
The only way to help customers navigate through these
changes is to be much more personally relevant to them,
and more personally engaged with them.
In health care, it also means being personally engaged in
partnerships with the physicians who treat our customers –
and with the employers who hire them and rely on their
productivity. At Cigna, we seek to support and connect
employees, clients and physicians.
What is an example of this?
Our care delivery and physician partnerships
provide a great example of how Cigna is delivering
superior health and productivity outcomes in a local and
personalized fashion.
In 2013, we increased the number of customers benefiting
from our collaborative relationships with physicians by
50%. By the end of the year, we had 86 collaborative
accountable care initiatives, up from 52 at the end of 2012.
We’re seeing positive cost and quality outcomes, and health
care professionals give us frequent feedback that Cigna’s
approach to these initiatives is dierentiated in the market.
What makes our collaborative approach unique, and so
personalized, is the degree to which it harnesses aligned
incentives around closing gaps in health care delivery
and desirable health behaviors; specific, actionable
information; and care extenders such as health advocates
and case managers.
In addition, our global network of doctors and hospitals,
coupled with our localized health management and
coordination resources, enable us to oer more expansive
care options for customers in our target markets around
the world.
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