Oscar’s health plans are built on the technology infrastructure, and it has entered into a number of partnerships with others in the industry, including Cigna and Cleveland Clinic, that harness that tech stack to enhance the member experience and simplify administrative tasks.
Through +Oscar, provider-sponsored health plans and regional insurers can operate at a similar level of efficiency to larger payers despite the smaller scale, Oscar Health said.
Meghan Joyce, chief operating officer at Oscar Health and who will head +Oscar, told Fierce Healthcare that the startup insurer has long intended to make its technology platform available more broadly to third parties.
“We’ve built Oscar from day one with an eye toward using our technology to power as much of the healthcare ecosystem as possible,” Joyce said. “This launch is an affirmation of our vision from those early days.”
Interest in and demand for digital health solutions has only grown during the COVID-19 pandemic. Joyce said that while Oscar’s partnerships to date were in place or in the works prior to the pandemic, interest in their technology stack has only grown over the past year.
For now, she said, Oscar is focusing in particular on provider-sponsored and regional plans, but she added that the insurer has “big ambitions” for where to take +Oscar.
The early months of 2021 have been busy for Oscar, with the startup officially going public in early March. Last week, Oscar Health also named a new leader to head up its medical group, also with an eye on growth.
Source: Fierce Healthcare
