Humana and IBM Watson Health Collaborate to Simplify and Enhance the Member Experience for Humana Employer Group Customers
February 11 2021 - 7:00AM
Business Wire
IBM Watson Assistant for Health Benefits – an
AI-enabled Watson virtual agent – can help enable greater access to
accurate and helpful information about benefits and healthcare
costs for Humana Employer Group members, agents and
employer-customers
Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM) and IBM (NYSE: IBM) Watson Health today
announced a collaboration leveraging IBM’s conversational
artificial intelligence (AI) solution – to help provide a better
member experience while providing greater clarity and transparency
on benefits and other related matters for Humana Employer Group
members.
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the full release here:
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Research indicates that consumers who do not understand how
their health plan works or how to estimate out-of-pocket costs are
more likely to delay or avoid essential care. Watson Assistant for
Health Benefits aims to help address this issue by leveraging
conversational AI to streamline the engagements between agents,
employers, and Humana Employer Group members with clear and
accurate information on benefits, healthcare costs and
providers.
As part of the agreement, Humana will deploy IBM Watson
Assistant for Health Benefits, an AI-enabled virtual assistant
built in the IBM Watson Health cloud. Initially, the service will
be available to all of Humana’s 1.3 million Employer Group medical
members, and 1.8 million of Humana’s Employer Group dental members.
Watson Assistant for Health Benefits provides rapid, accurate and
helpful information utilizing a conversational virtual assistant
with member benefits, coverage, claims, referrals and healthcare
costs for Humana Employer Group members, agents and
employer-customers. The objective is the creation of a cloud native
AI platform powered by IBM Watson with the conversational AI
virtual assistant solution.
“Humana is excited to team up with IBM Watson Health to help our
employer-customers and their employees better manage their
healthcare benefits and costs through a more innovative,
personalized experience,” said Chris Hunter, Segment President of
Humana’s Group and Military Business. “At Humana, we strive to use
technology to better serve our members with simple and convenient
healthcare experiences. By harnessing the power of artificial
intelligence fused with embedded analytics in the Watson Health
platform, we can help our employer-customers, members, agents and
broker partners enhance their knowledge so they can all make more
informed decisions.”
“Navigating our health coverage without the right support can
potentially serve as a barrier to care. An AI-enabled
conversational agent that is trained to understand health plan
benefits logic can play a role in helping to simplify complex or
possibly confusing plan information,” said Paul Roma, General
Manager, IBM Watson Health. “We are proud to support Humana in
leading the effort to deploy conversational AI to help enhance and
improve the consumer experience.”
Humana and IBM plan to deploy Watson Assistant for Health
Benefits to help many aspects of the Humana Employer Group member
benefits experience, including:
- Addressing questions directly from members with speed, accuracy
and personalized answers
- Assisting Humana employees and call center personnel to
accurately answer questions quickly – helping to free up more time
for customer care representatives to provide concierge-level
customer service
- Using historical claims and provider data to calculate
personalized cost estimates for medical services that can help
Humana members better manage their healthcare spending
The IBM Watson Assistant for Health Benefits solution is
designed to understand the logic of health plan eligibility and
incorporate it into the member conversation, enabling improved
interaction with each member, and personalizing each answer to the
Humana member based on his or her active or future health plan.
About Humana
Humana Inc. is committed to helping our millions of medical and
specialty members achieve their best health. Our successful history
in care delivery and health plan administration is helping us
create a new kind of integrated care with the power to improve
health and well-being and lower costs. Our efforts are leading to a
better quality of life for people with Medicare, families,
individuals, military service personnel, and communities at
large.
To accomplish that, we support physicians and other health care
professionals as they work to deliver the right care in the right
place for their patients, our members. Our range of clinical
capabilities, resources and tools – such as in-home care,
behavioral health, pharmacy services, data analytics and wellness
solutions – combine to produce a simplified experience that makes
health care easier to navigate and more effective.
More information regarding Humana is available to investors via
the Investor Relations page of the company’s web site at
www.humana.com, including copies of:
- Annual reports to stockholders
- Securities and Exchange Commission filings
- Most recent investor conference presentations
- Quarterly earnings news releases and conference calls
- Calendar of events
- Corporate Governance information
About IBM Watson Health
IBM Watson Health is a data, analytics, and technology partner
for the health industry. Supported by the innovation of IBM and
intelligence of Watson, we are committed to helping build smarter
health ecosystems. Through the combination of our deep industry
expertise in health, data and analytics, actionable insights, and
reputation for security and trust, Watson Health is working
together with its clients and partners to help them achieve simpler
processes, better care insights, faster breakthroughs, and improved
experiences for people around the world. Learn more at
www.ibm.com/watson-health.
For more information about IBM visit, www.ibm.com. Statements
regarding IBM's future direction and intent are subject to change
or withdrawal without notice and represent goals and objectives
only.
View source
version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210211005257/en/
Humana Media Contact Alex Kepnes 502-287-3567
akepnes@humana.com IBM Watson Health Media Contact Carolyn
Castel 857.337.0601 carolyn.castel@ibm.com
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