Blue Shield California: Advancing healthcare through tech fluency

Learn how Blue Shield of California used Pluralsight to assess skills gaps, provide tailored learning paths, and foster curiosity and professional growth across the company.

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The challenge

Tech-driven healthcare

Blue Shield of California knows that quality healthcare has an outsized impact on people’s lives. Since it was founded in 1939, the company has kept member experience at the forefront of its business. Today, more than ever, leadership knows that providing the best service means staying on top of constantly changing trends in technology. Blue Shield needed a way to make their workforce future-ready to keep pace with new tech. And that meant developing an understanding of key tech topics—in other words, building tech fluency.

By achieving tech fluency, the company aimed to meet a larger goal: becoming a technology company in the healthcare business instead of a healthcare company that uses technology. But Blue Shield of California also knew that better tech starts with better people. The company sought an upskilling platform that would enable them to give employees ownership of their learning journeys. They aimed to bridge the gap between healthcare and technology expertise and promote a culture of continuous learning across the organization.

Who they are

Blue Shield of California is a nonprofit health plan serving more than 4.8 million members with a vision of creating a health care system that is worthy of its friends and family and sustainably affordable. They leverage innovation to enhance the healthcare experience, improve healthcare access, reduce costs, and bolster security controls.

Founded in 1939 | Headquartered in Oakland, CA | 10 offices | 4.8 million members

“We're focused on tying the mission and purpose of our company to our strategies, architectures, and technologies in such a way that people want to learn more.”

Eddie Borrero

Chief Information Security Officer

The solution

Igniting a culture of learning

Blue Shield of California bakes self-directed learning into its cultural DNA, and Pluralsight has delivered extra value every step of the way. Employees use the platform to assess competency gaps, follow tailored learning paths, explore professional growth, and satisfy their curiosity about a variety of tech topics.

Blue Shield of California benefits greatly from Pluralsight’s combination of assessments and concrete recommendations for moving forward. Armed with the information to forge a learning journey that makes sense, employees feel empowered to own their upskilling—and the platform data shows it. So far, employees have seen an average of 36.17% skill growth.

Widespread use of the Pluralsight platform has also led to an atmosphere of greater excitement about learning in general. Learners are encouraged to share and communicate wins, challenges, and discoveries. Leaders make a habit of recognizing and celebrating learning achievements such as certifications. Since partnering with Pluralsight, Blue Shield California has seen upskilling ignite on a cultural level like never before.

Guided upskilling paths

Instead of just identifying skill gaps, Pluralsight’s Skill IQ directs learners toward next steps, resulting in 36% skill growth.

Synergy between teams

Tech fluency enables IT to translate tech topics and connect with the wider business on user story and long-term goals.

Curiosity for learning

Pluralsight Skills makes it easy for employees to branch off and explore new topics in tech according to their interests.

Empowerment for growth

The platform encourages employees to move forward in their learning with confidence, without needing confirmation from managers.

“What I love about Pluralsight is that it doesn't just say you've got competency gaps in this area. It really helps the learner on the pathway to upskilling and assessing.”

Cheryl Dilley

Senior Director, Office of the CIO

The next steps

From tech learning to healthcare innovation

Going forward, Blue Shield of California aims to enhance their reputation as a place to increase tech skills while doing good for the world. With the help of Pluralsight, they’ll continue to give employees permission to carve out time for learning and find ways to improve their experience.

The company also remains determined to unlock the tools to transform the healthcare industry. There are many complex challenges to address, and Blue Shield sees tech fluency as the key to turning the tide. Leadership continues to look for real-world optimizations, from real-time claims processing to a more seamless member experience on mobile.

As the winner of Pluralsight’s Best in Tech award for tech fluency, the company already has plenty to celebrate. But they’re staying focused on innovation, with Pluralsight’s upskilling providing the fuel their learners need. As Senior Director of the Office of the CIO, Cheryl Dilley, puts it, the Best in Tech win is “reinforcement and encouragement to keep blazing trails, learning, and looking at emerging technologies. And we have a great platform to enable us to do that.”

Blue Shield of California is an independent member of the Blue Shield Association.

“Pluralsight doesn’t have to be supervisor-managed, and it doesn’t leave employees to figure out how to scale up. It opens a whole new world of learning.”