Latest / Becker’s Healthcare Podcast / Amy Jordan, Vice President of Consumer Experience at UnitedHealthcare

Transcript

Amy Jordan, Vice President of Consumer Experience at UnitedHealthcare · Becker’s Healthcare Podcast

• 0:00
  This is Laura Dierdo with the Becker's Healthcare
• 0:02
  podcast.
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  I'm thrilled today to be joined by Amy
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  Jordan, vice president of consumer experience at UnitedHealthcare.
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  Amy, it's a pleasure to have you on
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  the podcast today. Great. It's great to be
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  here. Thanks for having me.
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  Absolutely. Now I'm excited for our conversation. I
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  know we're gonna lot talk a lot about
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  some of the cool things you're doing at
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  UnitedHealthcare as well as your perspective on the
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  future. But before we dive in, can you
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  introduce yourself and just tell us a little
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  bit more about what you're doing at UnitedHealthcare?
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  Yeah. As you mentioned, I'm the VP of
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  consumer experience, and I serve our commercial business.
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  So very much focused on making sure that
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  we're bringing forward positive experiences
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  to really address the well-being needs, the health
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  care needs of both our employer partners and
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  our consumers that we support,
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  in partnership with them.
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  That's amazing to hear. Now could you tell
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  us about the most important initiative that you
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  led in the last year? What did you
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  do and what were the results?
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  Yeah. We all are aware that we have
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  a really complex health care system. So when
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  I think about the work that we're doing
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  and if I kind of boil it down
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  and try and, you know, put a fine
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  point on it, it's really about simplifying that
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  that experience. We all know health care can
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  feel very disconnected. There's lots of different systems.
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  It can feel, you know, impersonal,
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  especially if you're seeing different providers and they're
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  not up to date on what you're doing.
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  And so we're really focused on how we
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  can bring forward experiences that really make it
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  easy and simple for our members.
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  Two come to mind for me over the
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  past year that,
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  our organization is really proud of. We put
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  a lot of work in. The first is
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  really within the provider space.
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  Again, when you're thinking about the care that
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  you're about to receive, finding the right provider
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  that's high quality, that's gonna be in network,
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  you know, you have the benefits, you know,
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  that are are there to support that,
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  and really making sure you're thinking about the
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  cost aspects of it. There's a lot to
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  consider for members. And so we went about
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  trying to create a really simplified approach for
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  our members when they're using our tools
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  to come in and find that high quality,
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  low cost position. We call it Smart Choice.
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  And what it is is a scoring methodology
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  that looks at, you know, the the quality
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  metrics that, you know, are governing each of
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  those subspecialties,
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  maximizing the benefits that you have as an
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  individual
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  member, looking at convenience factors like nights and
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  weekends availability, appointment scheduling, virtual options,
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  but then also allowing you to create a
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  personal profile
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  to really tell us what matters most to
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  you. And then we put that into the
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  algorithm, and it spits out scores zero to
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  100 for these providers
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  to really make it simplistic to see, okay.
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  Here, a score of 95, This is a
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  great option for me based off of what
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  I am searching
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  because it also looks at the claims history
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  of those providers as well. So we know
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  what's relevant for them, what they are,
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  what they're practicing
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  on a day in day out basis. So
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  that's really been something that we've seen really
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  positive results in getting people to move to
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  those higher quality,
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  lower cost physicians.
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  The other one that we're really excited about
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  we just launched is the introduction of Avery,
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  which is our generative AI experience
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  that, is available for our members within the
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  digital tools, but also supports our customer advocates
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  as they are engaging with our members. And
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  so this is part of a larger effort
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  that's underway
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  to really bring forward these solutions that create
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  simplicity
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  and address the core pain points in the
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  system for our members as they're engaging with
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  the health care overall.
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  And so we're really focused on trying to
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  make sure that this feels very familiar to
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  our members as if they're engaging in other
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  aspects of their life. We see things with
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  other large, online retailers, other industries that are
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  bringing forward these types of solutions. Health care
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  should really be no different. And so that's
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  really been a big focus for us. And
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  Avery is really there to help guide people,
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  help them navigate this really complex system, and
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  they have this resource there twenty four seven
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  to really give them information around benefits,
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  that they have, rewards
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  opportunities, help them find the correct provider. So
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  it does integrate that Smart Choice experience as
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  well. It also helps with cost transparency
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  tools,
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  and really providing that end to end support
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  for our members to make sure that they're
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  getting the resources, the support, the help that
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  they need to make health care and the
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  health care experience
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  that much more simplistic.
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  That's amazing to hear and really cool that
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  you've got the type of technology that can
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  dovetail into these efforts on pointing patients into
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  the right direction for high quality, low cost
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  care, really understanding what their potential outcomes could
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  be. And then, you know, generative AI knows
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  on the tip of everybody's tongue in health
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  care and how to use it in the
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  most efficient and effective way to create that
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  great experience. And so I appreciate you describing
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  what you're doing with Avery. It it's just
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  really impressive and cool to think about.
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  Yeah. It's it's been a journey for sure.
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  We've been working on it over the past
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  year and,
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  started to kind of roll it out in,
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  in different subgroups as we're testing it out,
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  building new skills, making sure it's having the
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  the results that we,
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  hope it would have, that our consumers
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  expect it to have. And so it's been
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  really fun to get it out there, see
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  the engagement, which has been really positive,
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  and continue to add more and more to
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  it because it does learn off of each
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  individual member's interaction. So it is a machine
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  learning capability as well. So as you engage
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  with it, it gets smarter about you. It
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  gets more personalized. So it it'll be it'll
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  be, really fun to see where it goes
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  here in the next year as well.
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  Absolutely. And, you know, speaking of the next
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  you heard too, what are some of the
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  big priorities and headwinds that you're focused on?
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  What's top of mind when you're thinking about
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  how things could play out in the next
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  twelve to sixteen months or so?
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  For sure. I mean, everyone is obviously talking
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  about the rising costs of health care. I
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  think that's probably the number one thing on
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  most people's mind. And as as we talked
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  about a little bit, the complexity of everything,
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  which oftentimes goes hand in hand because as
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  costs rise, we put in different levers or
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  employers are putting in different levers to try
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  and help stem some of that cost, which
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  creates complexity for our members and and really,
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  you know, create some of that friction in
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  the system. So for us, we have a
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  a huge urgency
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  in making sure that we're looking across the
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  system to really address a lot of those
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  pain points. And we really wanna make it
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  a systemic change. You know, we obviously are
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  doing a lot of work within our own
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  four walls, but in our partnership
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  with Optum as well, there's a lot of
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  things that we're doing to address some of
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  these challenges across the industry and and excited
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  about the role that we play there.
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  But we all know consumer expectations continue to
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  climb.
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  Everyone because, again, some of the other industries
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  that are really leading the way, everyone else
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  has these expectations that health care should operate
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  in that same way. So we're really focused
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  on building forward a more personalized benefit experience
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  for our members that are really addressing the
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  things that they want and need from the
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  health care system. And so as we're thinking
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  about the the things that we're we're investing
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  in and continuing to create, it's really around
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  meeting those expectations,
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  giving, listening to our members and giving them
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  what they are asking for as well as
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  our employer partners as they're really thinking about
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  how they can bring forward the best benefit
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  offerings and and retain top talent, they're looking
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  to partner with us in the same way.
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  So focusing on that convenience, focusing on that
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  simplicity as they're trying to navigate this complex
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  health care system,
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  and really help them manage the cost both,
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  again, on the employer side and on on
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  the member side as well.
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  That makes a lot of sense, and it's
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  really helpful to understand that context,
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  especially when you think about overall
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  health care costs and what a charge that
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  can be across the board for all stakeholders.
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  So,
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  you know, I I think it makes a
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  lot of sense to have that type of
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  experience and then bringing into it, you know,
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  whatever ways you can to to lower those
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  costs while still providing clinical quality.
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  What do you think the hardest thing you'll
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  have to do in the coming year will
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  be?
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  Great question. I think as we think about
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  all these challenges that we've been when, you
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  know, kind of discussing, obviously, I think the
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  industry is ripe for some shifts and some
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  changes. Obviously, AI is one of those things.
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  But focusing on building health care benefits that
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  are vastly different or at least, you know,
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  see that change,
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  are driving positive change, across the system, I
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  think that's really gonna be one of our
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  biggest challenges because we've been doing kind of
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  the same thing and trying to evolve on
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  the same model for a while. We certainly
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  have put forward some innovative products like Surest,
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  that are really doing very well, and and
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  create new opportunities. But our focus is really
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  on building, you know, health care experiences that
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  are personalized,
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  that are not one size fits all. It
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  has to be,
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  different than it has in the past because
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  everyone else is different. Everyone else is expecting,
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  you know, us to know them and know
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  what their needs are, meet those needs individually,
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  and not necessarily put everyone into the same
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  box. So we really want people to have,
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  a positive experience when they think about health
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  care, which I think most people, you know,
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  in this country would not think necessarily the
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  most positive about the health care system in
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  general. So how can we get people to
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  be more satisfied, put forward products,
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  and services that are,
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  experiences that are much more aligned to what
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  people are expecting? How can we make them
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  feel more empowered in the decisions and have
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  more ownership
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  over their benefits and their options,
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  to really make sure sure that they can
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  then manage their own health care, the health
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  care of their families, and and truly be
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  more, you know, productive in their day to
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  day lives, in their in their work, etcetera.
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  That's what our employers are looking for us
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  to be innovative on, and and that's, you
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  know, the task that we have in front
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  of us. And and it's gonna be a
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  challenge, but we're excited for it.
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  And that makes a lot of sense. And
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  I love the way you were talking about
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  continued personalization,
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  listening to, you know, the employers and others
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  and and making sure that you're delivering those
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  products and services aligned with expectations. And, you
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  know, I I think it's always an evolution,
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  it seems like, in terms of what those
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  expectations are and what,
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  you know, members and patients are are really
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  needing from their health care journey.
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  Beyond just being able to have that empowered
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  decision making, are there any other trends or
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  or things that, you're really leaning towards as
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  you think about the patient experience? Maybe anything
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  that they're demanding today that wasn't really,
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  you know, thought about in the past?
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  Yeah. I think certainly when we think about,
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  you know, the patient experience in particular,
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  where one of the biggest challenges is is
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  that data exchange with our providers. And so,
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  obviously, the providers are a huge part of
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  this equation in addition to ourselves and the
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  members and employers. And so making sure that
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  the providers have access to the information that
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  they need,
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  much more quickly, real time, you know, sharing
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  of information so that they have the full
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  picture around these members. Because as members transition
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  from provider group to provider group, they're not
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  always getting their care from the same,
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  system. And so we as the insurer
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  have a lot of that information. And so
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  being able to package that up and send
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  it over to providers,
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  in a way that's, again, real time actionable
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  for them so that they fully understand the
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  member's benefits when they're presenting care options or
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  thinking about the care that they're trying to
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  deliver. That can really be a benefit to
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  making sure members feel that satisfaction
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  with the actual health care that they're receiving.
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  So that's one of the initiatives that we
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  are investing in and are excited about is
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  really streamlining and integrating more with these provider
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  groups through commitments that we've made from a
• 11:10
  financial perspective and a technology perspective,
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  to send this information over, to create ways
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  in which this information can be better exchanged,
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  to really arm the providers with the information
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  that they need as well to make sure
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  that they're,
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  making decisions that are not going to negatively
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  impact the member from a financial perspective because
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  they're not aware of the benefits that they
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  might have, etcetera. So that's another area of
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  opportunity,
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  and investment that we're making that we're really
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  excited about. I love it. Thank you so
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  much for digging a bit deeper there. Now
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  before we dive in and and wrap up
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  our conversation,
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  where do you see some of the best
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  opportunities for organizational growth in the future?
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  I think AI is really going to be,
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  the best opportunity or really holds the most
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  promise to improve the health care system overall,
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  and we've seen that, you know, already substantially
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  in the investments that we're making. You know,
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  this year, we are investing more than 1,600,000.0
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  or billion dollars, excuse me, with a b
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  in in AI. And we have over a
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  thousand different use cases
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  already, you know, in in play, that are
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  focused on
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  streamlining care and, you know, removing some of
• 12:17
  the administrative burden, improving the customer experience. There's
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  just so much potential and possibility with AI,
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  and what we've already done and and kind
• 12:26
  of where we're headed with that agenda is
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  is really exciting.
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  We know that administrative burden, whether it's on
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  the provider side, whether it's on the consumer
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  side, can be quite high, particularly as you're
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  getting into some of those more complex,
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  situations. You know, there's prior authorization. There's there's
• 12:43
  claims denial or partial denial that you have
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  to work through to make sure all of
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  that information is being put forward. How can
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  we really leverage AI to streamline that, make
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  it much more simplistic,
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  much more personalized in individual's benefits and needs,
• 12:57
  and ultimately drive that affordability that we're all
• 12:59
  kind of looking forward to. So we're really
• 13:01
  leaning in the development of these AI solutions
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  to make a more connected and supportive health
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  care system. So
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  excited about what we've brought forward so far.
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  As I mentioned, lots of use cases in
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  play, particularly
• 13:14
  the Avery experience that we've recently launched. But
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  we're really excited about where this is gonna
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  go here in the next year, two years,
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  etcetera, because we see great possibility.
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  And we really believe that, you know, there's
• 13:25
  no company better equipped to help make that
• 13:27
  happen than UnitedHealthcare.
• 13:30
  Amy, thank you so much for joining us
• 13:32
  on the podcast today. This has been such
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  a fun and exciting conversation. I can tell
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  you're really passionate about what you do and
• 13:38
  really cool things ahead for UnitedHealthcare. So thank
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  you for your time today, and I look
• 13:42
  forward to keep continuing the conversation in the
• 13:44
  future. Thank you, Laura. It was great talking
• 13:46
  with you as well.