By Natalie Trebes and Tabiya Ahmed
While most COVID-19 attention right now is rightfully focused on clinical front lines, supply chains, and evolving government directives, health plans have a huge role in supporting the emergency response now—and will have a lot to consider moving into the future.
Above all, the biggest thing most plans must focus on immediately is shifting many of their normal services to remote work. That includes claims processing staff to make provider payments, but also the many customer service call center representatives who aren’t typically familiar with or equipped for remote work—and who will be dealing with a surge in call volumes over the coming months.