Democratizing health insurance services; accelerating social inclusion through technology policy of health insurance firms

Abstract

AbstractTechnology plays an important role in reducing inequalities in health care delivery and enhancing quality of life. Health insurance firms require a potent technology policy to understand social determinants of health insurance that can lead to more innovative approaches to social inclusivity initiatives. This paper explicates critical factors of technology policy of health insurance firms that can contribute to better social inclusion and move towards universal health care. Through structured survey questionnaire, data were collected from 125 senior health insurance executives from India for identifying factors important for technology policy. A technology policy scale comprising six distinct factors is developed for health insurance firms using exploratory factor analysis. The factors are “organizational technology strategy,” “technology value drivers,” “technology utilization,” “firm agility in technology,” “firm technology capabilities,” and “customer focus through technology.” The factors identified in this study can be utilized and integrated with enabling technologies such as machine learning, internet of things, big data analytics, and digital phenotyping for creation of electronic health records that are critical for risk management of health insurance firms. This would help to promote healthy lifestyles and disease prevention strategies to strengthen universal health care for society. This paper looks at the factors that are essential in framing a technology policy for the health insurance sector. It provides reasons on how the factors contribute in the evolving health insurance field and can increase the rate of social inclusion for health care. And, finally, it helps in distinguishing how technology requirements and utilization in health insurance is different from other businesses.