What Health Plans Get Wrong About Contact Centers—And How to Fix It
Q&A with Angie Lanasa, SVP Operations, Imagenet
Contact centers have long been a critical touchpoint between health plans, members, and providers—but too often, they’re also a source of frustration. Rising expectations, tighter regulations, and emerging technologies are forcing payers to rethink outdated models that rely on low-cost labor and manual processes.
To shed light on what’s changing—and how plans can get ahead—we sat down with Angie Lanasa, Senior Vice President of Operations at Imagenet, to discuss the biggest misconceptions about contact centers and the practical steps health plans can take to modernize.
What’s driving health plans to re-evaluate their contact center partnerships right now?
Health plans are rethinking contact centers because member expectations, provider needs, and compliance pressures have all shifted. Members want fast, accurate resolutions without repeating themselves or waiting on long holds. Providers, meanwhile, are looking for quicker answers too—whether it’s claim status or eligibility checks. Instead of staffing up to handle thousands of routine provider calls, the industry is moving toward bots and self-service tools that deliver accurate responses instantly, freeing up human agents to focus on more complex issues.
At the same time, regulators are tightening compliance requirements, making call accuracy and documentation more critical than ever. That’s why health plans are moving away from “low-cost” partners and toward those that can scale quality, reduce administrative burden, and prepare for the next wave of contact center technology—things like AI-powered bots, real-time QA and coaching, and speech analytics. At Imagenet, we’ve built the operational foundation, and we’re committed to the future of layering in these tools to deliver the modern, efficient contact center experience health plans need.
What’s the risk of focusing solely on lowering costs instead of leveraging technology to improve quality, member satisfaction, and operational efficiency?
When cost is the only driver, health plans end up with higher turnover, constant retraining, and dissatisfied members. That creates more rework and actually drives up total cost over time. The bigger risk is falling behind: without investing in technology to modernize workflows, plans miss the opportunity to improve member satisfaction and reduce administrative strain. We’re committed to helping our clients think differently—cost matters, but so do quality, scalability, and preparing for technology-enabled operations that deliver long-term value.
How does vendor turnover impact training, quality assurance, and back-office workflows—and how can intelligent automation and centralized knowledge management reduce those risks?
High turnover erodes contact center quality, increasing costs and service inconsistency—automation helps offset these risks. In a contact center, churn disrupts the flow of training, slows down quality assurance, and can erase valuable institutional knowledge. For health plans, that means higher costs, longer ramp-up times, and inconsistent service for members and providers.
This is exactly where technology can change the game. Intelligent automation—such as real-time QA, automated coaching, and AI-driven knowledge bases—can reduce the reliance on manual processes and help preserve consistency even when staffing changes. Centralized knowledge management ensures every agent, whether new or tenured, has the same access to accurate information. While Imagenet has traditionally relied on strong people and process, our vision is to leverage these emerging tools to become a leader in creating stable, scalable, and high-quality contact center operations for health plans.
Why is deep, real-time integration with a healthcare payer’s core systems —and automated data sharing—critical for delivering fast, accurate resolutions?
Every extra handoff introduces delays and risk of error. Real-time integration and automated data sharing will be critical to resolving member needs quickly and accurately. Today, our teams work closely with payer systems to minimize friction; looking forward, we see technology as the way to take this further—eliminating silos, cutting turnaround times, and boosting first-call resolution rates. The more seamlessly we connect, the better the member experience becomes.
What do payers often overlook about the “hidden” back-office lift —like QA, document handling, or credentialing—and how can intelligent document processing and workflow automation transform those functions?
Many health plans underestimate the hidden back-office work that keeps contact centers running—and automation can transform it.It’s not just about answering calls—it’s the constant cycle of training whenever processes or regulations change, the quality assurance checks on calls, the credentialing and outreach work, and the data tracking needed to measure KPIs and performance metrics. Each of these areas demands time and resources, yet they are often managed with manual processes that slow things down and create inconsistencies.
Automation has the potential to transform all of this. Intelligent knowledge systems can cut retraining time by giving agents immediate access to updated information, real-time QA tools can flag compliance issues without relying on manual auditing, and workflow automation can streamline credentialing and outreach. On top of that, automated reporting and analytics can deliver accurate KPIs without the hidden effort of manual data pulls. Our vision at Imagenet is to adopt these tools in the future to reduce error rates, shorten training cycles, ease reporting burdens, and allow staff to focus on higher-value member and provider interactions.
How can a contact center partner use intelligent technology to modernize operations and reduce administrative burden across the entire member journey—from first inquiry through claims resolution?
Technology will allow contact centers to evolve from transactional call handlers into true operational partners. Imagine automation that reduces administrative burden at every stage—from the first inquiry to claims resolution. That’s where Imagenet is headed: combining our operational expertise with intelligent technology that simplifies processes, reduces frustration, and improves the member journey. While we still rely on strong human expertise today, our commitment is to keep building toward a smarter, more automated model.
How does combining contact center and claims lifecycle automation under one roof improve speed, accuracy, and member/provider satisfaction?
Combining contact centers with claims lifecycle automation improves speed, accuracy, and overall member experience. When these functions are siloed, members and providers often wait longer for answers, and issues are escalated unnecessarily. Every handoff slows resolution and increases frustration. The future of contact center support lies in breaking down those silos with automation and tighter integration.
By combining contact center and claims lifecycle automation under one roof, health plans can streamline data sharing, reduce duplicate work, and deliver faster, more accurate responses. Automation can enable real-time claim status updates, surface eligibility details instantly, and provide agents or bots with the information needed to resolve inquiries on the first interaction. While Imagenet does not connect these functions today, our vision is to bring them together in a tech-enabled model that improves speed, accuracy, and overall satisfaction for both members and providers.
As Angie highlights, the future of contact centers lies in intelligent automation, tighter integration with core systems, and a more holistic view of the member and provider journey. Health plans that continue to treat the contact center as a cost center risk falling behind, while those that invest in scalable, technology-enabled models stand to gain lasting improvements in satisfaction, efficiency, and compliance. At Imagenet, we’re committed to helping payers evolve their operations—transforming the contact center into a true driver of value across the claims lifecycle.
Deliver faster, smarter service for members and providers.
Angie Lanasa is Senior Vice President of Operations at Imagenet, where she oversees Contact Center Operations, Claims Adjudication, and facilities in both the U.S. and the Philippines. She has led teams of more than 300 representatives and 10+ leaders across in-person and virtual environments, implementing performance strategies that drive efficiency and service quality. Known for cultivating a culture of innovation and empowerment, Angie ensures her teams consistently deliver seamless, integrated customer experiences for health plans.