INTELLIGENT VIRTUAL ASSISTANTS

Transcription

1 INTELLIGENT VIRTUAL ASSISTANTS FOR PAYERS AN FAQ-STYLE GET STARTED GUIDE

2 Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming businesses across industries and continents, allowing those who invest in the technology to leverage data, automate processes and gain or sustain a highly-coveted competitive advantage. The health insurance industry is no exception and payers who utilize AI technology like intelligent virtual assistants to engage consumers will continue to widen the gap between those who have and haven t. If you re interested in getting started with a conversational AI solution but don t know where to begin, we ve got you covered. In this simple, FAQ-style Get Started Guide, you ll learn: What exactly is an intelligent virtual assistant? How are payers currently using the technology? And what real-world results are organizations experiencing? Now, let s get started. What is an intelligent virtual assistant (IVA)? An intelligent virtual assistant is an automated self-service solution that emulates human interaction to perform particular tasks like answering questions, providing instructions, website navigation or making recommendations based on customer account information. Intelligent virtual assistants encompass aspects of artificial intelligence like machine learning, natural language understanding and logistic regression which enables the technology to learn, reason, improve and understand much like a human. What s contributing to the rise of intelligent virtual assistants? In January 2016, the term "artificial intelligence" was not in the top 100 search terms on gartner.com. By May 2017, the term ranked at No. 7, indicating the popularity of the topic and interest from Gartner clients in understanding how AI can and should be used 1 as part of their digital business strategy. Gartner With tech giants like Amazon, Apple, Google and Microsoft investing heavily in artificial intelligence and intelligent assistants, it s clear that the technology is no longer a mere feature but a strategy to give each company a competitive edge. 1. "Gartner Says AI Technologies Will Be in Almost Every New Software Product by

3 With the ability to get smarter over time, garner actionable insights and perform tasks instantly and accurately, intelligent virtual assistants serve as a trusted and valuable resource for customers and employees alike. People are more comfortable with the technology than ever before and increasingly use it as a preferred method to do business and interact with brands. In a recent report, Gartner predicts that by 2018, at least 50% of new versions of enterprise software products will include some conversational capabilities and analysts predict that by 2020, AI technologies will be virtually pervasive in almost every new software product and 2 service. How do IVAs impact customer service? Today s consumers demand accurate, relevant and complete answers to their questions as quickly and painlessly as possible. Intelligent assistant technology is perhaps the most compatible, userfriendly and scalable solution to address these demands. With the ability to interact with an unlimited number of consumers simultaneously on any channel (voice, chat, text, etc.), intelligent virtual assistants offer a full-service digital experience by interacting with consumers in their preferred channel with no wait resolving issues quickly and delivering an end-to-end solution. The technology provides a platform for relationship-building interactions and delivers delightful, on-brand experiences while providing insights into what consumers want to know so companies can adapt service offerings accordingly. A short list of how IVAs are impacting customer service: Ensures customers feel welcome, valued and respected Delivers consistent, fast and accurate resolution Provides guidance through multistep processes Offers 24/7 self-service availability on any channel Transfers complete chat transcript to live chat for seamless transition and high efficiency Integrates with systems of knowledge to enrich and personalize digital experiences Delivers voice of the customer analytics 2. Gartner Says AI Technologies Will Be in Almost Every New Software Product by

4 How are payers using intelligent virtual assistants? As competition among health plans heats up and advancements in digital technologies raise customer expectations, payers are looking to AI-powered intelligent virtual assistant technology to compete and differentiate themselves as a leader in member care and retention. By utilizing intelligent virtual assistants on their digital channels, payers offer a concierge-like experience to each and every consumer. Here are a few ways payers are using intelligent virtual assistants to personalize the digital experience for their members: Referencing member account information like plan type, benefits, claims, etc., the IVA can provide personalized responses, specific to each member s account, rather than a onesize-fits-all response Providing a warm welcome message to potential or new members Guiding new members through enrollment processes Providing member education Encouraging health assessments Informing members about eligibility and coverage Simplifying form and procedure interactions Helping members navigate benefits and claims Collection and payment assistance Detecting member mood and service satisfaction Providing cost-of-service estimates and comparisons Pharmacy assistance and shipment tracking Alerting members of account specific activities that require action Locating in-network providers and more In addition to consumer-facing intelligent virtual assistants, payers are also using the technology within their organization to help educate staff, improve the speed of service as well as increase accuracy and efficiency.

5 How can IVAs impact business value? It s no secret that one of the primary reasons intelligent virtual assistant technology has become so popular is in large part due to its ability to positively impact business value. The scalable technology assists an unlimited number of users simultaneously, dramatically reducing costs by eliminating the need for customers to use live chat or call or contact centers. High rates of chat and call deflection equate to huge savings for companies, some even saving more than a million dollars a year in deflection costs. Additionally, with intelligent virtual assistants, members are more informed than ever and are notified about marketing promotions, account specific activities that require action, like payments, as well as relevant account benefits. These types of interactions present crossselling and upselling opportunities to generate revenue, collect payments and keep customers smiling. Internally, intelligent virtual assistants are supporting agents and sales teams by providing them with the information or tools they need, when they need it the most, eliminating timedraining steps and assisting customers with the most personalized and accurate information. Conversations with intelligent virtual assistants contain powerful, actionable insights. Customers are telling businesses what they want every day and intelligent assistant technology makes it possible to truly listen and learn from those conversations at scale, so payers can adapt and improve product and service offerings now and in the future. What sets Next IT's technology apart? With over 15 years of real-world experience, Next IT has established the world s largest industry-focused data library. Our language model for member services alone consists of over 160,000 unique member service vocabulary terms, more than 1,600 concepts and 400 business intents that have been curated and validated by subject matter experts. These preidentified patterns, frequently used terms, intents and actions ensure payers get the most out of the intelligent virtual assistant in the shortest amount of time.

6 Our Alme Platform is an inclusive, front-end agnostic platform with the ability to scale and extend humanemulated, conversational interfaces to smartphone apps, speakers, web chat, kiosks, social platforms and more. With access to 56 plugins and counting, it's equipped with a business administration suite including out-of-the-box reports and custom applications to enable extension across an entire organization. Additionally, our professional services teams, unique methodology, and robust, secure system ensures that each and every client is set up for success. We support customers who are required to be HIPAA compliant. We offer hosted, cloud and on-premises solutions that are specifically tailored to our client s needs, industry, use cases and KPIs to ensure every interaction counts. The world s largest industryfocused data library Member Service Solution: 160,000 unique member service vocabulary terms More than 1,600 concepts Over 400 business intents 56 plugins and counting Reporting and analytics suite Hosted, cloud and on-premises solutions Who uses Next IT s technology? Visit

7 What are some of the business results of Next IT's customers? Leading Healthcare Company (IVA for Customer Engagement): 29% reduction in calls to technical help desk in the fifth month after implementation Averages over 46,000 questions per day Saves consumers as much as $170 in out-of-pocket costs on more than 30 commonly selected healthcare services Leading Healthcare Company (IVA for Workforce Support): Used by more than 20,000 employees and outsourcers Average questions per day: over 18,000 Over 60% reduction in average handle time with claims processing Trained with broad + deep knowledge, policy coverage definitions of acronyms, phone book and over 7,000 codes Charter Ask Spectrum (IVA for Customer Engagement): 83% decrease in live-chat volume Experienced 5x ROI in 6 months 50% less time spent completing a task with IVA (vs. live chat agent) 44% cost reduction in the first year SWBC Ask Emily (IVA for Customer Engagement): 84% engagement rate with target audience Over 90% first-time submission success rate 48% decrease in calls to contact center Leading Financial Service Organization (IVA for Workforce Support): Saved over $1 million with reduction of internal how to calls Knowledge base of over 3,000 products and tools Answers 25,000 questions a day

8 How do you get started? Instead of trying to boil the ocean with AI, we recommend taking a simple, iterative approach. YOUR 5-STEP GUIDE Step 1: Start by identifying one problem and define your vision. For example: Using an intelligent virtual assistant to reduce high call center costs. Step 2: Outline goals and specific examples that support your vision. For example: Deflect calls to the call center by 50% by utilizing an IVA that s capable of answering questions about benefits, claims and plan information. Step 3: Collect information and data needed for analysis For example: Number of call center calls by month, number of FTEs, average cost per call, chat logs, etc. Step 4: Contact Next IT to fully scope, develop and implement a complete end-to-end IVA solution. Step 5: Let the results speak for themselves. Interested in a demo? Contact us. Info@

9 About Next IT Next IT is the provider of conversational AI systems for the Global We propel businesses into the intelligence revolution with AI technologies that are enterprise ready on day one. Our customers and strategic partners use our technology to build business-first AI solutions that put them a step ahead of their competition. By combining a proven cognitive platform with an advanced toolset spanning Natural Language Understanding (NLU), Natural Language Generation (NLG), machine learning, and conversation analysis, we ensure that every enterprise succeeds with AI now and in the future. Next IT. Where AI Means Business. Learn more at