Aetna converts all provider Web site users to NaviNet Insurer Connect

Aetna is one of the nation’s leading diversified healthcare benefits companies serving more than 19 million members.

Business Challenge
Aetna had created and hosted its own proprietary secure provider Web site, in addition to offering its providers a small set of real-time transactions such as Eligibility and Benefits Inquiry, and Claim Status Inquiry via NaviNet, America’s largest real-time healthcare communications network.

As its relationship with NaviNet evolved, Aetna determined that to remain an industry leader in provider service it needed an even more advanced provider communications offering. Aetna decided to create an improved provider Web site, convert all its users and “sunset” its current site. Based on the success of its initial transactions on NaviNet Insurer Connect, NaviNet’s proven knowledge of provider office workflows and that NaviNet is a multi-payer portal enabling providers to access multiple health plans, Aetna selected NaviNet to plan, manage and execute this massive undertaking.

NaviNet also could:
• Provide a sophisticated security solution for identity and access management including:
• Self-service user registration
• Provider office administrator role and functionality
• Granular, office- and role-based user access control
• Support Aetna-branded multi-payer transactions and single sign-on technologies
• Improve provider content delivery and management, such as:
• Role-based, customized content delivery
• Easy to author/update content
• More robust search capabilities

Solution
NaviNet and Aetna quickly formed a cohesive team that collaborated on virtually every aspect of the development, implementation and conversion processes. This close teamwork was paramount to the overall success of the project.

NaviNet identified three aspects of the implementation that would be the most challenging:
• Communicating about the NaviNet conversion and retirement of Aetna’s proprietary site to over 400,000 providers
• Maximizing adoption and utilization of NaviNet during the transition, while ensuring no negative impact on provider business and relations
• Enabling Aetna providers to transparently access a set of Aetna hosted transactions via the NaviNet portal, making the whole range of Aetna features available on the new portal and thus enabling Aetna to retire its current provider Web site

Aetna and NaviNet worked in partnership to create and execute an extensive and coordinated provider communications plan. All forms of communication were utilized – email, outbound phone calls, fax, provider newsletters, direct mail and provider message centers within NaviNet and Aetna’s current site. Efforts included a targeted incentive program and a dedicated Aetna enrollment Web site that NaviNet built to provide an easy and quick way for users to self-register for NaviNet.

The conversion and communications processes were planned in stages, focusing on one user segment at a time as defined by the transactions they used on Aetna’s site and/or via NaviNet. As NaviNet launched new transactional capabilities, the campaign expanded to target providers who were currently using those transactions via the Aetna site. This staged approach maintained provider satisfaction by enabling users to continue to interact online with Aetna via the same range of transactions to which they were accustomed. NaviNet also created a dedicated Aetna enrollment call center to address users’ questions and concerns and assist with the enrollment process.

NaviNet concurrently addressed one of the core technical issues of the conversion: how to enable users to access some Aetna hosted features via NaviNet. NaviNet created backend links between the two companies and the infrastructure to support single sign-on capabilities. Single sign-on would allow users to process NaviNet- and Aetna-hosted transactions all via the NaviNet portal, seamlessly accessing Aetna’s features without noticing an obvious “click-through” to Aetna’s site.

Impact
In only a few short months, NaviNet converted 409,000 providers, 421,000 users and 74,000 tax ID numbers from Aetna’s proprietary site to NaviNet. Utilization of Aetna transactions increased dramatically. Within one year of the NaviNet implementation, volume leapt approximately 70 percent, with an increase of over 1.5 million transactions per month. NaviNet met or exceeded all service level agreements and is now helping Aetna realize significant ROI in the form of call center cost reduction and more efficient use of IT resources. NaviNet has also worked with Aetna to build innovative clinical messaging and alerting solutions.

Because of the success of the NaviNet implementation, Aetna retired its secure provider Web site as planned, only a few months after the conversion process commenced. Aetna now utilizes NaviNet as its sole provider Web portal.

“NaviNet is the easiest and most useful solution I’ve used for interacting with Aetna,” said Chauntae Townsend-Joyner, billing manager, Ninth Street Internal Medicine.

“Aetna’s secure provider Web site via NaviNet makes it easier for physicians and hospitals to do business with Aetna and can help physicians and members work together to better coordinate care and improve health outcomes,” said Paul Marchetti, head of Aetna National Networks and Contracting Services.

Proving that Aetna remains at the forefront of healthcare connectivity innovation, NaviNet Insurer Connect solutions for Aetna received industry recognition by winning Health Data Management magazine’s second annual Editor’s Choice Award for “Consumer Connectivity.”