Dive Brief:
- Regional health chain Zoom+ is going against the grain not only by serving up convenience and transparency in healthcare, but as of this year, by offering a uniquely positioned insurance plan through the Oregon health exchange.
- The company is following through on its goal of fundamentally changing the system to push back against traditional healthcare's issues of rising costs and a poor customer service experience.
- Zoom+ concluded that bringing on insurance members of its own would help the company better assess its strengths and weaknesses in controlling costs and improving quality, Kaiser Health News reported, though patients do not have to have Zoom+ insurance to utilize the health system.
Dive Insight:
Though its membership is small at just 2,500 so far, the company's health plan stands out for being offered by a clinic chain and for aiming to sell a distinct experience to a distinct population--millennials, Katherine Hempstead of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation told KHN.
Zoom aims to grow the plan and has come a long way as a company, from just one Portland clinic 10 years ago to a regional provider with more than 30 locations serving Portland, Seattle and Vancouver, Washington. The company has also expanded its offerings to serve as a one-stop healthcare location, with some clinics providing services that include dental care, mental health care, chronic disease management, visits with specialists, yoga and cooking classes.
One criticism of the company is that it serves only privately insured patients and those who are uninsured but can pay. By leaving out Medicaid and Medicare patients, some suggest Zoom+ is taking the least expensive patients and leaving the most costly and needy to traditional health systems.