Medical Mutual of Ohio, one of Ohio’s oldest healthcare insurance companies, is planning a number of mobile health investments in 2016.

Medical Mutual, a Cleveland health insurance company founded in 1934, launched its first mobile app in 2013 and is now adding new features. The carrier, which changed its name from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Ohio in 1997, also has ambitious plans this year to double its app downloads from its current  68,000. The company serves 1.6 million consumers.

“As healthcare becomes more consumer-driven, offering more mobile options to customers who want to communicate and connect with us is a priority,” says Medical Mutual interactive e-solutions manager Joya Newman.

Medical Mutual’s apps for iPhones, iPads and Android devices already enable a number of self-service functions for the company’s plan members, including the ability to access identification cards and insurance benefits, search for nearby providers and view claims information. Users also can view their deductibles and out-of-pocket spending.

A new app feature planned for 2016 will give users access to more pharmacy benefits information. Other plans call for adding a mobile version of a desktop cost-comparison tool the carrier launched in June. “My Care Compare” enables users to find the best price, provider and location for such plan-approved healthcare services as office visits, blood tests and other lab services, X-rays, magnetic resonance imaging, or MRIs, computerized tomography (CT) scans, physical therapy and other minor and major surgeries. Medical Mutual has not announced a launch date for the mobile version.

In the past year, Medical Mutual, which built its mobile app using technology from Kony Inc., a mobile applications and development company based in Austin, Texas, also has improved the search capability within its apps. That includes giving users faster ways to find a provider by specialty or location and then map directions to the provider’s office.

Medical Mutual updates its mobile app based on what it calls plan members’ “mobile moments”, Newman says. “We listen to the feedback,” she says. For example, the carrier enhanced the provider search capability because that was among the most frequently used app features. “If you have an emergency or need to find a location even as you are about to hop in the car, you most likely aren’t going to use your personal computer,” Newman says. “You are going to use your smartphone.”

Though a small number of 40 app users have reviewed the app, those users that have reviewed the app generally give it a good rating for ease and range of use, according to mobile app measurement firm App Annie. The combined Android and Apple versions achieved a ranking of 3.5 out of a possible 4 stars.

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