UnitedHealthcare has launched a tech-enabled Smart Choice to enhance provider searches for its members.
The technology finds a provider based on personal needs, health plan benefits and preferences. Members will have access through the UnitedHealthcare app and website to what UnitedHealth is calling a more intuitive search experience.
Smart Choice incorporates members' needs and preferences. When members use the UnitedHealthcare app to search for providers, they will see Smart Choice results that align with their personal selections, which they can set in the app, including distance to location, provider, gender, language and appointment preferences, such as weekend hours.
It is available to eligible members who have UnitedHealthcare's employer-sponsored health plans.
WHY THIS MATTERS
AI and data analytics are increasingly being used by payers for member interactions and provider networks based on care outcomes and cost.
Sixty-seven percent of employers said they already have a strategy in place to collect, store and analyze data that measures employee health and well-being, according to UnitedHealth.
Smart Choice pairs members to care providers who deliver effective and efficient quality care, based on nationally recognized quality standards, including patient safety, clinical guidelines and health outcomes measures, UnitedHealth said.
THE LARGER TREND
Smart Choice is added to the company's digital innovations. In 2024 UnitedHealthcare made over 400 enhancements to its digital experience and plans to deliver a similar number through 2025, the company said.
Other plans have released similar efforts.
Quest Analytics and Arcadia announced a partnership to build competitive networks based on provider performance intelligence. Embedding advanced provider performance insights directly into network design gives payers visibility into which providers deliver the best outcomes at the most efficient cost.
Blue Shield of California recently announced a collaboration with booking platform Zocdoc to allow members to schedule in-network, in-person and virtual care appointments directly on the nonprofit health plan's online member portal.
Cigna introduced an AI-powered virtual assistant to help members get their questions answered during health insurance interactions. The generative AI tool that Cigna calls more than a chatbot, provides conversational and personalized answers to common questions about benefits coverage, claims and care options.
Email the writer: SMorse@himss.org