LAGOS (SUNDIATA POST)- In a ground-breaking move, Prudential on Thursday announced its partnership with MedLM, Google’s cutting-edge foundation model, to improve the accuracy and efficiency of medical insurance claim decisions.
The partnership announcement is contained in a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) by Mr Arjan Toor, CEO, Health, Prudential plc.
It noted that as one of the first insurance providers globally to utilise MedLM, Prudential aims to revolutionise the claims process, reducing errors and processing time.
“Prudential today announced that Prudential is using MedLM, Google’s family of foundation models fine-tuned for healthcare industry use cases, to improve the accuracy and efficiency of medical insurance claim decisions.
“Prudential is one of the first insurance providers globally to use MedLM– which is typically used by healthcare organisations to build solutions for doctors, hospitals, and other medical providers to deliver better experiences for healthcare workers and patients,” it said.
The statement said that the collaboration between Prudential and Google Cloud demonstrated the potential of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) in transforming the healthcare and finance industries.
“Starting in Singapore and Malaysia, Prudential will use MedLM to analyse documents submitted alongside health insurance claims, such as diagnostic reports, prescriptions and invoices.
“MedLM supports human decision-making with its ability to extract relevant information and code it accurately for claims, helping to reduce the potential for errors caused by manual data entry, so claims can be processed faster and more accurately,” it said.
The announcement followed several proof-of-concept tests by Prudential that showed its use of MedLM doubled the automation rate of claim reviews and assessments.
In addition to improving the accuracy of claims decisions, allowing the insurer to handle a higher volume and velocity of claims while improving overall customer experience.
“Prudential’s early tests with MedLM demonstrate that generative AI can play a major role in efficiently tackling the growing volume of health insurance claims, resulting in more frictionless processing and a faster turnaround time for customers.
“We’re proud to pioneer this innovative approach to using MedLM to support our operational efficiency as we continue to expand our health insurance offering.
“This is while delivering our mission to be the most trusted health partner for customers in Asia and Africa,” Toor said.
This innovation enables Prudential to handle a higher volume and velocity of claims, enhancing customer experience.
“Prudential will continue to apply MedLM to select medical insurance claims over the next three to four months, comparing the AI’s analysis and advice to actual decisions using current approvals processes.
“This will help identify areas where MedLM can deliver the greatest productivity improvements and most useful advice to claims assessors,” it said.
According to Karan Bajwa, Vice-President, Google Cloud in Asia Pacific, praised Prudential’s innovative approach, stating, “This collaboration exemplifies how our strategic partnership with Prudential can empower its workforce to drive confident decision-making, improve the overall experience for policy holders, and create meaningful innovation in healthcare and finance.”
“Prudential’s adoption of MedLM marks a significant milestone in the company’s mission to be the most trusted health partner for customers in Asia and Africa.
“By harnessing the power of generative AI, Prudential is poised to deliver seamless, digitally enabled healthcare experiences at every step of the customer journey.”
“We then compare the AI’s analysis and advice to actual decisions using current approvals processes during this time.
“Doing so will help Prudential identify areas where MedLM can deliver the greatest productivity improvements and most useful advice to claims assessors, while maintaining a `human in the loop’ at critical stages of the decision-making process.(NAN)
