Ounjian believes the reason why so many CRM projects - not just in healthcare but across industries - run into problems or fail altogether is because they aren't grounded by an underlying plan for transferring data that originates in one system and in one form to another system in a different form.

Once Ounjian and his staff ironed out the data issues and developed a prototype of the new website, they invited customers to test it in a focus group. During those initial trials, they found the site wasn't all that consumer-friendly. For example, they discovered that they needed to change the organization of the pull-down menus that guide viewers around the site. The engineers changed the arrangement of pull-down menus so that it better reflected how laypeople move around the site.

On Jan. 1, 2002, Ounjian finished the first phase of his company's new customer self-service system. Phase one consisted of redoing the infrastructure and offering such online services as a provider directory, the ability to check one's membership information, view claims and contact BCBS of Minnesota's customer service department via e-mail. Phase two was completed on Jan. 1, 2003, and consists of a product called Options Blue, which lets customers obtain explanations of their benefits, calculate contributions to their health coverage, and check their deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums online. Customers can now also order prescriptions by mail, estimate the costs of prescriptions and medical procedures, order new ID cards, and find participating pharmacies.

One customer that came on board because of the new self-service system is Northwest Airlines, which switched over from Cigna on Jan. 1, 2002.Tim Meguinnes, vice president of employee benefits, says his company is happy with the way the online system is running. "It is a wonderful little tool," Meguinnes says. "Our employees can look up claims information, get access to information about their maladies and order new ID cards."

The system is currently being used by 61 employers with 450,000 individual employees, according to Richard Neuner, chief marketing officer of BCBS of Minnesota, who is excited about the new service. Neuner and Ounjian hope to grow that number in the coming year.

Unable to resist yet another car metaphor, Ounjian concludes, "We have the chassis on which to build our investments from year to year. If my transmission needs to move from a three speed to a five speed, I don't have to redesign the whole car."