To boldly go where no man has …oh, you know the rest

StarTek, not to be confused with you-know-what, today introduced its contact center support services for consumer-driven health plans including health savings accounts. StarTek, Inc. is a provider of business process outsourcing and optimization services for outsourced customer interaction. Aimed at healthcare executives, StarTek’s solution seeks to assist in the outsourcing of consumer health plan-related customer care functions as an extension of enterprises.

The StarTek contact center solution for consumer driven health plans includes: the first point of contact (phone, chat, and email); universal agents to answer a large breadth of inquires; ongoing plan education; open enrollment FAQs; seamless call triage and/or escalation processes; an in-depth training curriculum; and technology integration. StarTek PR has emphasized recent trends in national health plans in America certain to “impact the efficiency and overall cost of health care in the United States.” Health savings accounts were enabled by the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003, and provide an important element in President Bush’s health care reform policy and agenda.

StarTek representatives cited a recent study by America’s Health Insurance Plans showing that in the past ten months the number covered by an HDHP/HSA combination has increased from one million to three million. Estimates have 15 million people to be covered by consumer driven health plans, specifically health savings accounts, by 2010, representing between US $10 and US $62 billion in assets. These accounts are tax-sheltered, interest-bearing accounts used in conjunction with a high-deductible health plan. Employees direct pretax income into accounts that can be invested and drawn upon for healthcare costs.

The StarTek business plan sees such as the future of healthcare: As company execs see it, consumer driven health plans add hundreds of opportunities for growth and thousands of new consumers to support, not to mention increases in call volume and call length. StarTek, Inc. was founded in 1987 and is a leading provider of business process optimization services for outsourced customer interaction. The company is managed by executives from the financial, cable MSO, CRM and business services industries. Headquartered in Denver, Colo., StarTek has eighteen operational facilities across North America.