Humana and IBM Watson Health Collaborate to Simplify and Enhance the Member Experience for Humana Employer Group Customers

Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM) and IBM (NYSE: IBM) Watson Health today announced a collaboration leveraging IBM’s conversational artificial intelligence (AI) solution – to help provide a better member experience while providing greater clarity and transparency on benefits and other related matters for Humana Employer Group members.

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Research indicates that consumers who do not understand how their health plan works or how to estimate out-of-pocket costs are more likely to delay or avoid essential care. Watson Assistant for Health Benefits aims to help address this issue by leveraging conversational AI to streamline the engagements between agents, employers, and Humana Employer Group members with clear and accurate information on benefits, healthcare costs and providers.

As part of the agreement, Humana will deploy IBM Watson Assistant for Health Benefits, an AI-enabled virtual assistant built in the IBM Watson Health cloud. Initially, the service will be available to all of Humana’s 1.3 million Employer Group medical members, and 1.8 million of Humana’s Employer Group dental members. Watson Assistant for Health Benefits provides rapid, accurate and helpful information utilizing a conversational virtual assistant with member benefits, coverage, claims, referrals and healthcare costs for Humana Employer Group members, agents and employer-customers. The objective is the creation of a cloud native AI platform powered by IBM Watson with the conversational AI virtual assistant solution.

“Humana is excited to team up with IBM Watson Health to help our employer-customers and their employees better manage their healthcare benefits and costs through a more innovative, personalized experience,” said Chris Hunter, Segment President of Humana’s Group and Military Business. “At Humana, we strive to use technology to better serve our members with simple and convenient healthcare experiences. By harnessing the power of artificial intelligence fused with embedded analytics in the Watson Health platform, we can help our employer-customers, members, agents and broker partners enhance their knowledge so they can all make more informed decisions.”