 Cable
Broadband battle heats up
Dominant cable providers like Comcast and Time Warner Cable plan to increase their Broadband Internet speeds this year by as much as a third, competing with Baby Bells on speed rather than price. The Bells currently trail in broadband market share, with about 40 percent to cable’s 60 percent.
Insurance
Big opportunity in small business
It’s being called the fastest growing market in the insurance industry. Of the companies taking aim, AIG is planning to expand its accident and health offerings into the small-business unit, and The Hartford is launching the product Xpand, which promises to be an easy-to-write business owner’s policy with enhanced coverages and customized limits.
Hospitals/Health Systems
Large healthcare system gets personal
Advocate Health Care recently tested a personalized postcard to increase patient loyalty and retention. The goal? To encourage recommended checkups and stimulate utilization of healthcare services. The result? Consumers receiving the postcards with customized information were about 15 percent more likely to use the sponsor’s services than a control group. |
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Telecommunications |
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The big get bigger |
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Continuing the trend of megamergers, Verizon Communications, the nation’s largest regional phone company, has agreed to buy MCI for about $6.7 billion in cash and stock. This follows a wave of consolidation in the telecom industry, including the Sprint-Nextel merger, Alltel’s acquisition of Western Wireless, and the deal between SBC and AT&T. It could take a year to win regulatory approval. |
Pharmaceutical
More pediatric clinical trials
expected
About 80 percent of medications prescribed to children
haven’t been tested in them. Now new federal
requirements and financial incentives for pharmaceutical
companies to test certain drugs in children are
likely to cause an increase in pediatric studies.
A new Web site — www.researchchildren.org
— has been developed to help parents make
educated decisions about allowing their children
to participate in a study.
Banking
Online and up for grabs
The number of Americans going online for personal
banking has grown from 23 percent in 2002 to 40
percent today, according to a recent survey. But
nearly 64 percent of online bill payers make payments
by going directly to a company’s Web site,
making it critical for banks to better communicate
the safety and convenience of their online portal.
Investment
New focus: Life planning
With modest returns expected from stocks in 2005,
Wall Street’s top firms will increase efforts
to sign up clients for financial advice, tax help,
estate planning and retail banking. Though these
life planning services may not prove immediately
profitable, experts agree they may go a long way
to build client relationships and increase retention
during a slow trading period.
 Mortgage
Housing market losing steam
Mortgage activity has fallen off sharply since the
Fed began hiking rates last year, dropping 26 percent
to $2.8 trillion in 2004, and expected to dip an
additional 17 percent this year. The plunge in refinances
is largely to blame. The resulting pricing war may
set the stage for a new round of consolidation.
Travel
Gone cruisin’
Buoyed by strong customer demand and heightened
brand marketing, leisure cruising will continue
to ride a wave of unprecedented popularity, predicts
the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA).
The industry achieved its highest number of passengers
in 2004 — more than 10.6 million — with
30 million expected within the next three years.
Automotive
Satellite killed the (broadcast)
radio star
Automakers are on board with satellite radio. General
Motors has aligned itself with XM, Ford and DaimlerChrysler with Sirius, and Toyota with both companies.
XM is available in more than 120 different 2005
vehicles, while Sirius is an option in cars made
by 15 different automakers. XM says about half of
its customers sign up because they bought a car
with satellite radio installed.
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Managed Care |
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Leading organizations go digitial |
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 A unit of UnitedHealth Group Inc. developed a prepaid health savings account debit card that can also be used to check health plan eligibility and co-payment information from the physician’s office.
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Medica introduced electronic swipe healthcare membership cards, as well as an online health plan comparison tool.
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Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield is piloting a program that allows doctors to conduct Internet-based medical visits. It also automatically checks a member’s eligibility, calculates and collects co-payments or co-insurance, and submits claims for physician reimbursement.
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