By Breck Obermeyer
My family and I were taking a trip, and when we were in the car we started idly chatting about this or that. My husband brought up the fact that he’d seen a Bluetooth rotary phone. We laughed at how odd that sounded and how people these days might not even know how to use a rotary phone. Our 8-year-old son, Jared, asked what that was. We tried our best to explain it to him, but I don’t think he quite understood.
A lot has changed since those rotary phone days. Change is a critical part of survival in the modern world – and it seems that technological change is happening at the speed of light. Businesses and programs that fail to adapt are doomed to fall. Who remembers when we used to have one choice when we bought mustard? Now we have 50, and don’t even get me started on how we’d obtain said mustard. Is it shipped to us from some online grocery retailer? Do I purchase it in the store? Is it part of my drive-up order? So much is changing, it’s sometimes hard to ketchup!
And who knows what the future will bring. The evolution of Medicare and Medicare plans are no different. Plans evolve and change in order to meet the needs of those the plans serve. How do we explain this evolution? Boomers, for starters. They’re used to having choices, are savvy consumers and are always seeking the newest thing. Here at Health Alliance NorthwestTM, the many departments within our organization are constantly holding conversations about what prices, benefits and perks serve our members best. And as our members’ needs change, we move to change with them.
One of our changes has been the recent introduction of our Hally®mobile app. Everything has an app these days, because apps provide easy-to-use tools you can use on the go or from the comfort of your home. And perhaps nothing is as important as managing your healthcare – so we created the Hally app to make this as easy as possible for our members.
With the Hally app, you’ll always be able to connect to your coverage from the convenience of your mobile device. You can:
- Access and use your virtual ID card on the go.
- Check what care, preventive care and prescription drugs your benefits cover.
- Contact your doctor right away.
- Find covered doctors and hospitals.
- Get your deductible and out-of-pocket maximum.
- Know where to go for care depending on your symptoms.
- Log in quickly using the fingerprint scanner on your device.
- See what you’ll pay for key services like primary care, emergency care and urgent care visits, both in and out of network.
- Speak with doctors and counselors by phone or video through virtual visits.
I’m a firm believer that when one door closes, a window opens somewhere. Rotary phones are nice, but think of all the things we would have missed if everyone had maintained the status quo.
Breck Obermeyer, Yakima, WA – Breck Obermeyer is a community liaison with Health Alliance Northwest, serving Yakima County. She’s a small-town girl from Naches and has a great husband who can fix anything and three kids who are her world.
Like this article? Feel free to respond to Outreach@HealthAlliance.org. Thanks for reading!