"This business used to be easy, you just had to make one sale and that was in the boardroom. If the executives selected your health plan then everyone else just went along with the decision and enrolled in the group health plan."

That was how Harry Reynolds, Director – Health Industry Transformation, IBM Global Healthcare and Life Sciences Industry began his talk at one of the networking breakfasts held this year during AHIP Institute, the annual gathering of health insurance plan executives held in San Francisco.

Reynolds went on to say that this is all quickly changing. During his presentation entitled, "Healthcare Transformation: The Movement Towards Individuals," Reynolds sketched his vision of the near future to be one where carriers and presumably brokers will need to rethink their core business processes, learn from other industries, and redefine their consumer brand in order to sustain and strengthen their business model.