For Immediate Release
April 22, 2011
Saving the planet one page at a time
DANVILLE, PA – The earth has a friend in Geisinger Health Plan (GHP). Over the past year, the Health Plan has changed processes to reduce paper consumption by approximately 1.3 million pieces.
Geisinger Health Plan began offering paperless explanation of benefits (EOB) to their members in March 2010. State and federal regulations require insurance companies to provide EOBs to tell Health Plan members in a timely way whether the service was covered and how much the member is required to pay. To date, more than 11,000 members have chosen the paperless option. In the past year, more than 65,000 EOBs have been securely viewed online, conserving more than 130,000 pieces of paper.
In addition, GHP also offers businesses and individuals the ability to view member materials online. The materials include an overview of coverage and information on how to get the most out of your benefits. Materials are mailed to existing members annually. Each packet contains upwards of 90 pieces of paper. This year, more than 8,500 Geisinger Health System employees and 4,400 individual members viewed their information online, resulting in a savings of more than 1.16 million pieces of paper.
“Offering our members these materials in a secure manner online is a win for everybody,” says William Byron, vice president of customer service operations. “We have been able to significantly reduce the amount of paper we use while guaranteeing our members always have access to the most current information.”
Geisinger Health Plan, begun in 1985, is headquartered in Danville, PA and is one of the nation’s largest rural HMOs. GHP is currently the top-rated plan in Pennsylvania and #5 in the country, according to National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) Health Insurance Plan Rankings 2010-11-Private list. The plan serves approximately 270,000 members in 42 counties. Coverage is available for businesses of all sizes, individuals and families, and Medicare beneficiaries. For more information, please visit www.thehealthplan.com.
For more information, please contact
Amy Bowen, Public Relations Coordinator, (570) 271-8135
