BIP Summer 2024

IN

the labyrinth of modern healthcare, where insurance policies and care decision path ways are as intricate as neural networks, an artificial intelligence revolution is underway. With every new data point, AI is influencing employee benefits and healthcare. Through its many guises — large lan guage models (LLM), machine learning (ML), natu ral language processing (NLP), and more — AI is infiltrating the industry, from patient care practices to how brokers and agents run their businesses. Algorithms are forecasting, analyzing, and

of ensuring AI is where compassion meets innova tion,” says Jessica Brooks-Woods, NABIP CEO. We are in an era where AI-driven technologies will revolutionize industry practices, client interactions, and healthcare outcomes. AI’s Impact on Employee Benefits Decision support tools that help enrollees sift through their health plan options have gotten a shot in the arm through increasingly sophisticated generative AI chatbots. These digital assistants field queries and produce tailor-made recommendations. Sophisticated ML models crunch through data points such as employee demographics and health records, utilization patterns, costs, and personal goals. The result? Benefits packages that are better calibrated to match individual needs. It’s a similar story for employee wellness pro grams, which have faced criticism over the years for their one-size-fits-all approaches and low engage ment rates. To address these issues, companies are using LLM to analyze employee data and craft bespoke fitness, dietary, and wellness plans. For instance, Cigna recently worked with Virgin Pulse to inject AI into its myCigna app. Beneficia ries of select plans can sync their fitness devices with the app. The platform sifts through this informa tion, alongside employee claims and other pertinent data, to produce customized recommendations for health program benefits, like diabetes management. Brokers Take Advantage of AI Meanwhile, in an industry sometimes seen as resistant to change, progressive brokers are harness ing the potential of automation to reduce or even eliminate time-consuming administrative tasks that bog down workflows. Using ML, brokers can swiftly compare policies, answer client queries during hectic enrollment periods, and provide on-the-spot benefit comparisons.

producing recommendations at lightning speed. But what does this mean for how brokers will oper ate and help clients navigate the complexities of healthcare? No matter how AI-fueled technology evolves, the human-centric principles put forth in NABIP’s Healthcare Bill of Rights can help ensure that, amid the algorithms and analytics, people are the priority. “Our members can be at the forefront

KEY POINTS

▶ Generative AI chatbots are strengthening decision support tools in health plan selection by analyzing data to provide tailored recommendations. Companies are using AI to craft personalized wellness programs, reflecting a shift toward more individualized approaches in benefit offerings. ▶ Progressive brokers are leveraging AI automation to streamline administrative tasks, allowing them to focus on building client relationships and custom recommendations while gaining valuable insights from AI-equipped CRM platforms. ▶ AI guides clinicians to better outcomes by leveraging predictive models for early detection and preventive services, reshaping precision medicine, aiding emergency care decision-making, and enabling remote patient monitoring to prevent costly crises.

30 bip magazine Summer 2024