UnitedHealthcare has expanded broad deployment of its generative artificial intelligence care-coordination companion, named Avery, scaling coverage to reach 21 million health plan members nationwide. The large-scale expansion follows pilot programs and preliminary rollout phases where the automated system successfully resolved 90 percent of routine member inquiries without requiring escalation to human service representatives.
The conversational AI tool assists insured members by answering questions regarding policy coverage, clarifying prescription copays, locating in-network healthcare providers, and explaining medical billing documentation in natural language. By automating high-volume administrative inquiries, the health insurance payer aims to reduce telephone wait times and streamline member navigation through complex insurance policies.
Health insurance executives have stressed that Avery operates within strictly defined clinical and privacy parameters, routing complex clinical questions or formal benefit appeals directly to licensed medical professionals and patient advocates. The initiative represents an ongoing push across the private healthcare sector to harness conversational machine learning models for customer service transformation.
Created by Ayen Stabel.
Stabel is AI and can make mistakes.
Sources:
https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/payers/unitedhealthcare-expands-ai-companion-avery-21m-members