Health insurance company Cigna has launched a mobile application to make it easier for members to manage their health and related spending.

The myCigna Mobile App provides Cigna health plan customers access to their personalized health care information so they can easily find a doctor, look up claims as well as view and manage account balances and deductibles. Users can also access their ID card and compare drug prices at 60,000 pharmacies.

?We have full saturation for our plan subscribers but you can only access it from a desktop or laptop,? said Joe Mondy, assistant vice president of IT communications at Cigna, Bloomfield, CT. ?We have a mobile environment that we started offering a few years ago, but we realize that it makes more sense to have a dedicated app so that people can access health information from anywhere.

?We recognize that more and more, the primary way people are accessing information is from the smartphone,? he said.

?One of our approaches in terms of being more customer-centric and transparent to customers and helping them get the most out of the benefits plan is to reach them wherever they are at. This is a gap we needed to close.?

Generic options
Users can also keep track of any deductible their plan has, enabling them to price a prescription or medical procedure to find out what their out-of-pocket cost will be.

Additionally, users can access their membership information from the app so if they forget to bring their membership card with them when they go to a doctor, the information will be handy.

One way Cigna expects users to take advantage of the app is when they are in a doctor?s office and the doctor prescribes a new medicine.

Users can take out their app right there in the doctor?s office and find out if their health plan covers that medicine as well as find out how much it costs at the pharmacy and if there is a lower-priced generic version.

As a result, users will be able to ask the doctor to fill out the prescription for the generic medicine while they are still in the office, saving them time and money.

Additionally, users will be able to find which local pharmacy offers the needed medication at the lowest price.

?This has been a challenge ? helping people figure out what?s covered in their pharmacy plan,? Mr. Mondy said. ?This app will solve that.?

Customers lead the way
Cigna announced the availability of the app on Feb. 12 and by the end of day already had 30,000 customers registered for it.

The free app is available to download from the Apple App Store and Google Play.

Cigna will continue to update the app throughout 2013, including with accurate pricing and quality information on doctors and hospitals for more than 200 medical procedures according to the real-time status of the customer?s health plan and available health account funds.

The health insurance company also offers the Go You mobile app that lets users create and send personalized, encouraging video messages to friends.

There is also a Facebook version of the app. 

?The advantages of the health plan information being on mobile that you cannot have with any other approach is that you can look it up on your cell phone when you are in the doctor?s office or at the emergency room,? Mr. Mondy said.

?Or, if you are traveling and need to find a doctor right away, you can access that information right on your cell phone,? he said. ?You can find urgent care facilities in a particular town that are affiliated with your Cigna health plan.

?We are following the lead of our customers. That is where they are and that is where we need to be.?

Final Take
Chantal Tode is associate editor on Mobile Marketer, New York