Health Plans Provide the Worst Customer Experience, According to New Temkin Group Research

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Large-Scale Research Study Rates More Than 200 Companies Across 18 Industries Based on Feedback Survey of 10,000 U.S. Consumers

Waban, MA, February 20, 2012 — A new research report published by Temkin Group, 2012 Temkin Experience Ratings, rates the customer experience of 206 large companies across 18 industries. This is the second year that Temkin Group has released these ratings.

The research, which is based on a survey of 10,000 U.S. consumers in January 2012, includes 13 health plans. Kaiser Permanente was the top-rated health plan, the only plan to receive an “okay” rating, but it only ranked 87th in the overall ratings. TriCare, Medicare, Aetna, United Healthcare, Humana, Empire BCBS, Blue Shield of CA, and CIGNA all received “poor” ratings. Four plans received “very poor” ratings and are ranked in the bottom seven across all 18 industries: Highmark BCBS, Health Net, Medicaid, and Anthem BCBS.

Health plans represented the lowest-rated industry, and only one of three industries to receive an average rating of “poor.” The industry, however, experienced a modest improvement between 2011 and 2012.

“It’s troubling that only one health plan can even achieve an okay rating; the entire industry needs a customer experience wake-up call. While it’s great to see some improvement, it’s not enough,” states Bruce Temkin, author of the report and Managing Partner of Temkin Group.

The Temkin Experience Ratings evaluates three dimensions of customer experience:

Functional: Does the company meet consumers’ needs?
Accessible: How easy is it for consumers to do what they are trying to do?
Emotional: How do consumers feel about their interactions with companies?

Other highlights from the research include:

Kaiser Permanente and TriCare received the highest Functional ratings, while Highmark BCBS and Health Net received the lowest.
Kaiser Permanente and Aetna received the highest Accessible ratings, while Medicaid, Health Net, andHighmark BCBS received the lowest.
Kaiser Permanente and TriCare received the highest Emotional ratings, while Highmark BCBS and Health Net received the lowest.
Ten health plans were included in both the 2011 and 2012 Temkin Experience Ratings. Kaiser Permanente had a double-digit improvement in its score while five other plans increased their score by five or more points: Anthem BCBS, Aetna, United Healthcare, CIGNA, and Humana.
TriCare was the only health plan to slip by five points or more between 2011 and 2012, but Medicaid andMedicare also declined.

This report can be accessed from the Temkin Group website at http://www.temkingroup.com or from the blog,Customer Experience Matters, at http://experiencematters.wordpress.com. The data can be accessed from the Temkin Ratings website, http://www.temkinratings.com.

For more information about Temkin Group, visit http://www.temkingroup.com.

About the author, Bruce Temkin

Bruce is widely recognized as a customer experience thought leader and is Customer Experience Transformist and Managing Partner of the Temkin Group. He is also the author of a very popular blog,Customer Experience Matters. Prior to forming Temkin Group, he was a VP at Forrester Research for 12 years. Bruce is a highly demanded speaker who consistently receives high marks for his content-rich, entertaining keynote addresses. He is also the co-founder and Chair of the Customer Experience Professionals Association (CXPA.org), a global non-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of customer experience management.

About Temkin Group

Temkin Group is a leading customer experience research and consulting firm with one simple goal for its clients: increase customer loyalty by becoming more customer-centric. The company combines customer experience thought leadership with a deep understanding of the dynamics of large organizations to help senior executives accelerate their customer experience results.