Human Insight and Artificial Intelligence: Personalized Advocacy is Transforming the Healthcare Experience Today

Data and artificial intelligence will transform healthcare, promises Eric Schmidt, former executive chairman of Google. “We're closer than you think,” he said at the annual HIMSS conference held in March. Schmidt sees artificial intelligence harnessing the pending and profound explosion of imaging, sensor, behavioral and molecular data to predict health outcomes, allowing clinicians to take critical action earlier.

Indeed, data intelligence working in concert with human expertise and insight is a promising combination to drive greater efficiency and better outcomes. It's also an effective one, as demonstrated in the world of employee healthcare benefits, where it's already happening.

Combining human compassion, clinical expertise and the power of data and artificial intelligence, “personalized advocacy” is transforming the healthcare experience for individuals, families and employers today. It's a high-touch, high-tech model that's delivering deep insight about individuals and efficient, personalized recommendations for supporting their needs.

In contrast to digital navigation tools, traditional disease management programs or even other advocacy solutions, personalized advocacy combines:

Human compassion

Health and benefit advisors dedicated to forming long-term, trusted relationships with individuals and families. Active listeners who turn every member inquiry - finding a doctor, replacing a lost insurance card, understanding a new benefits plan - into an opportunity to get to know them a little better and what's going on in their life. Taking time to listen empathetically and earn people's trust, these advisors are not only ready to support a health need when it arises, but they're adept in uncovering a health need and getting people on the right track.

Clinical expertise

When a health need is identified, a registered nurse is brought in, backed by an independent team of doctors, pharmacists, social workers, behavioral health clinicians, and other clinical specialists ready to provide unbiased guidance. The team supports members with any condition, acute or chronic, across the continuum of care using evidence-based clinical programs, coordinating with providers, and helping people be better prepared patients.

Intelligent technologies

Fundamental to the approach is open, intelligent technology that pulls in a wide range of data and information about a person to create their "whole person" profile. Thie profile goes far beyond medical and behavioral conditions to include important life context (gleaned by health advisors), including the social, financial, cultural and environmental factors that determine 50% of a person's overall health.

And that's where artificial intelligence comes in, analyzing all of that data to perform sophisticated targeting of populations down to the individual level. With an incredibly rich data set, intelligent technology can make highly efficient and personalized recommendations to health advisors and nurses as they support members with their health needs - helping them get the right care at the right time. And with every interaction, the solution gets smarter, increasing the efficiency of support.

The result?

Increased engagement, near perfect member satisfaction, better health outcomes, and lower healthcare costs. Want to learn more about how compassion, clinical expertise and intelligent technology work together to reinvent the healthcare experience?

Read the Personalized Advocacy paper today.