BCBSM
Healthcare access for 5 million members
Live Demo
Overview
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan serves 5M+ members across the state. I led frontend development for the member app — claims tracking, coverage lookup, virtual ID cards, prescription management, and in-network provider search — rebuilding a slow legacy Cordova app into a modern hybrid mobile experience on IBM MobileFirst, with WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility baked into the component layer.
The Challenge
Healthcare apps serve the widest user demographic in software — young families through elderly members with accessibility needs, across every device and OS combination. The legacy Cordova app was slow, had limited native capability, and members couldn't find basic plan information, which translated directly into support-call volume. Rebuilding natively wasn't an option on the budget; compromising on accessibility wasn't an option at all.
The Solution
Delivered a hybrid app with Ionic + AngularJS on IBM MobileFirst that felt native on both iOS and Android from a single codebase. Restructured the information architecture so members could actually find plan details, shipped Apple Wallet virtual ID cards (the #1 field request), and enforced WCAG 2.1 AA at the component primitives so every new screen inherited accessibility automatically.
Architecture
A hybrid mobile app with Ionic and AngularJS running on IBM MobileFirst for enterprise auth, API gateway, and feature flags. Accessibility is enforced at the component layer — not bolted on at QA.
Key Decisions & Tradeoffs
Ionic + Angular over a full native rewrite
Why: Serving 5M diverse members on a fixed budget. Hybrid delivered 90% of native feel at roughly half the engineering cost, with a single codebase across iOS, Android, and web. A native rewrite would have shipped half the features in the same time.
IBM MobileFirst as the backbone
Why: Enterprise auth, API gateway, feature flags, and push — all regulatory-friendly — out of the box. Let a small frontend team spend its time on member experience instead of rebuilding the security stack from scratch.
Accessibility-first component library
Why: 5M members includes many elderly and vision-impaired users. WCAG 2.1 AA baked into primitives (inputs, buttons, navigation) meant every new screen inherited accessibility automatically, instead of being audited and patched at QA.
Virtual ID cards in Apple Wallet
Why: The most-requested feature from the field. Apple Wallet integration eliminated the #1 support-call reason (lost or forgotten physical card) and made the app the first thing members opened at the doctor's office — every other feature rode on that retention lift.
Rebuild the information architecture, not just the UI
Why: Members couldn't find plan info — a UI refresh alone wouldn't fix it. Restructuring the IA around member intent (what am I covered for, how much does it cost, where do I go) drove a 30% drop in support calls independent of the visual rebuild.
What I took away from this project
Lessons that still shape how I build — in my own words.
Information architecture is the real redesign
Leadership wanted a visual refresh. The actual problem was that members couldn't find plan information, and a fresh coat of paint wouldn't fix that. Restructuring the IA around member intent — what am I covered for, how much does it cost, where do I go — drove the 30% support-call drop. The visual rebuild is what got photographed; the IA rebuild is what moved the number.
Accessibility at the primitive layer is free forever
Serving 5M members means serving a huge range of age and ability. We enforced WCAG 2.1 AA at the component level (inputs, buttons, navigation) rather than auditing screens at QA. Every new screen inherited compliance for free. The team that owns the primitives owns the accessibility story — that's been true on every product I've built since.
Hybrid was the right answer for the constraints we had
Ionic + Angular on IBM MobileFirst wouldn't be my first choice today, but on that budget, with that team, serving that member base, it delivered 90% of native feel at roughly half the cost. I've learned to be suspicious of any 'always use X' technology opinion — the right architecture is the one that fits the constraints you actually have, not the one your Twitter feed admires this month.
Impact
Technology Stack
Frontend
Mobile Shell
Backend
Security & A11y
Key Features
Want something like this, built for you?
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