Health insurance provider United Healthcare’s mobile application Health4Me has introduced new features, including the ability to complete mobile payments for customers’ health claims and manage their healthcare expenses.

The mobile payment service is now available to more than 13 million plan participants nationwide, while any consumer can access a guest version of Health4Me to identify local healthcare providers and comparison shop for healthcare based on quality and cost.

“Health4Me helps consumers conveniently and easily manage their health care finances, and make more informed choices, while at home or on the go,” said Yasmine Winkler, chief marketing and product officer at United Healthcare, Chicago.

Easing the customer experience
Health4Me is designed to help all consumers conveniently make more informed decisions regarding their care.

Now, Health4Me users can pay their medical bills with their credit card, debit card, health savings account or bank account, manage and understand their claims, monitor medical expenses for tax reporting, track their physical activity, including wirelessly connectivity to a Fitbit device and stream content from UHC TV, an Internet TV channel with health and wellness information.

The payment feature, designed in collaboration with InstaMed, a health care payments network company, has previously been available online via UnitedHealthcare’s plan participant portal at MyUhc.com.

The mobile and online service, known as myClaims Manager, enables customers to manage their claims and pay medical bills electronically by entering their credit card, debit card or bank account information, adding convenience for consumers while helping health care providers get paid faster and easier.

Health4Me and myClaims Manager are available to UnitedHealthcare employer customers of all sizes and their employees.

Payments can be made to anyone in UnitedHealthcare’s entire network of physicians and other care providers, and providers can register to receive the payments electronically.

UnitedHealthcare claims to broadly support the use of information technologies to lower costs and simplify payment processes. In 2014, the company processed and electronically transmitted $85 billion in medical payments to physicians and other care providers.

Up and coming
In November 2014, United Healthcare’s introduced a new mobile program called Baby Blocks that gives employers the ability to alert pregnant women and new parents of incentives.

Women who enroll in Baby Blocks can earn rewards for completing prenatal, postpartum and healthy baby appointments. Users access interactive Baby Blocks via the free mobile Web app on iPhone and Android smartphones that shows their prenatal visits and opportunities to earn rewards for following a prenatal and postnatal visit schedule (see story).

In July 2014, United Healthcare opened its Health4Me app to all consumers following months of limited access for customers insured by United Healthcare. 

The app then began offering new features, such as the ability to search for nearby urgent care facilities and costs of more than 520 medical services, which aimed to allow consumers to easily budget for their medical expenses. United Healthcare saw the benefits it was providing to its plan participants and decided to broaden its appeal by making it available to any smartphone user (see story).

“By enabling consumers to more easily monitor, manage and understand their health care expenses any time and any place, we are helping people take charge of their health and make more informed decisions regarding their care,” Ms. Winkler said.

Final Take
Caitlyn Bohannon is an editorial assistant on Mobile Commerce Daily, New York