In June, Cigna began launching a suite of new AI tools designed to help members better navigate their health benefits.
The new features are being rolled out in phases on Cigna’s member portal, where enrollees will have access to an AI-powered chatbot that answers common questions about benefits and claims. In addition to the virtual assistant, Cigna will roll out a personalized provider-matching service, and cost-tracking, claim-submission and plan-selection tools.
The upgraded digital offerings are part of the company’s broader initiative to improve customer satisfaction. In January, Cigna leaders said the company would invest up to $150 million in improving customer experience, including by relaxing prior authorization requirements and improving navigation.
Becker’s connected with Katya Andresen, chief digital & analytics officer at The Cigna Group, to talk more about the new initiative.
Question: What has member feedback on these tools been like so far? Can you share any measurable impacts these tools have had so far, such as engagement, satisfaction, or health outcomes?
Katya Andresen: Our customers have responded positively to the enhanced digital experience. Early results showed that 2 out of 3 customers who had access to the virtual assistant used it proactively, and more than 4 out of 5 found it helpful. Importantly, we’re also seeing that many customers who search for care through the new provider matching tool are following through with appointments, so we know we’re connecting patients to quality care.
Q: How did you develop these tools? What stakeholders did you engage when you prioritized what to build first?
KA: Healthcare has historically lagged behind other industries in terms of customer experience, but we listened to customers, learned about their biggest pain points with the health care system and worked backwards. We continually analyze customer service calls to identify the top drivers of outreach to understand how we can simplify their health insurance interactions, performed rigorous research and testing within a comprehensive artificial intelligence governance framework, and adjusted based on stakeholder feedback along the way.
Q: How do you balance the efficiency of AI while keeping a human touch in customer service?
KA: We’re thinking about the customer experience in two ways: the everyday moments and the extraordinary moments. For everyday moments, such as finding care, looking up benefits coverage, or predicting costs for a doctor’s visit, customers need their health insurance interactions to be simple and reliable. This is one area where smart, quick, and predictive technology such as AI can make the interactions mirror the ease in which they pay bills or order takeout.
For the extraordinary moments – the devastating accident or diagnosis – we have doubled the number of customer advocates who can guide people through these challenging times because we know human insight and support is critical to supporting customers. We’ve also created centralized teams who can help customers manage complex claims or authorizations to help take the onus off the customer.
Q: Where else do you envision AI enhancing members’ experience in the future?
KA: AI has the potential to dramatically improve the healthcare experience, from sharper clinical predictions to understanding health care utilization and trends. Above all, it’ll help humans do their jobs more effectively and efficiently – making it easier to improve productivity and quality.
