Conversational AI Use Cases: Save Time & Money with Chatbots in Healthcare

Just like many industries, healthcare is on the cusp of considerable change due to conversational AI models like the ones powering ChatGPT and Google’s Bard. Healthcare, broadly speaking, may not look much different in the coming years, but the glue that holds its various parts together certainly will. That means the insiders, especially medical providers and insurers, need to understand a number of chatbot healthcare use cases.    

Because chatbots (another name for conversational AI) are specifically engineered for conversations, they’re great for phone calls. (They’re even better at waiting on hold, which comes in handy when dealing with insurers…) Before long, it’s pretty likely that long hold times for administrative tasks will be a thing of the past, but how do we get there in the present? Read on for some conversational AI use cases in administrative healthcare work.

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Administrative uses for healthcare chatbots

While chatbot healthcare use cases range across several aspects of the medical world, we’d like to focus on the administrative ones. AI technology can automate phone calls to health insurance companies in several ways, primarily through the use of voice assistants and chatbots. Here's how this could work:

• Information Verification: Conversational AI can automate the process of verifying customer information, which is especially useful in situations where proof of identity, address, or other details are required, or for checking a patient’s benefits before medical services are rendered.
• Prior Authorization Requests: Conversational AI can process patients’ request for prior authorization, in a similar way to the one in which it verifies patients’ information.
• Claim Processing: Conversational AI can assist in the actual claim submission process by guiding customers through the necessary steps, helping collect required information, updating patients on their claim’s status, and even providing an initial assessment of the claim's validity based on predefined criteria. The process can be made more efficient, reducing the burden on human agents and expediting claim resolution.
• Customer Service: Healthcare chatbots can handle routine customer inquiries such as policy details, claim status, premium payments, and more. Advanced voice recognition and natural language processing can interpret and respond to a range of customer queries, guiding them through processes or providing information.
• Policy Purchase and Renewal: Chatbots can simplify the process of purchasing or renewing insurance policies. By asking a series of questions, the AI system can recommend the most suitable policy, explain the terms and conditions, and guide the customer through the purchase or renewal process.
• Appointment Scheduling: For insurance companies that offer in-person or phone consultations, conversational AI can automate the appointment scheduling process, allowing customers to choose a convenient time without the need for human intervention.
• Payment Reminders and Processing: AI can automate the sending of premium reminders to policyholders, including setting up automated phone calls. It can also facilitate payment processing by guiding customers through the process.
• Feedback and Surveys: AI can conduct customer satisfaction surveys and collect feedback after the resolution of each call, which can be used to continually improve service quality.

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How conversational AI helps Revenue Cycle Management companies

Automating phone calls with chatbots can offer numerous benefits to a Revenue Cycle Management (RCM) company in the healthcare industry. Here are several ways it offers assistance:

• Increased Efficiency: Automated phone systems can handle a large volume of calls simultaneously, which can significantly reduce waiting times. This is particularly beneficial for routine tasks such as appointment scheduling, balance inquiries, payment reminders, and simple queries about billing or insurance claims.
• Reduced Operational Costs: Automating phone calls can decrease the need for a large customer service team, saving on labor costs. The system can handle calls 24/7, reducing the need for night shifts or overtime pay.
• Improved Customer Experience: AI chatbots can provide instant responses, which can greatly improve customer satisfaction. They can also provide personalized responses based on the caller's history, further enhancing the customer experience.
• Reliable Information Handling: Healthcare chatbots can provide accurate and consistent information, reducing the risk of human error. They can also update information in real-time, ensuring that the most current data is available for every interaction.
• Payment Processing: Chatbots can help facilitate the payment process by guiding patients through the steps, providing payment options, and confirming successful transactions.
• Debt Collection: Automating phone calls can make the process of debt collection more efficient. Chatbots can send reminders about overdue payments, explain the consequences of non-payment, and even negotiate payment plans within predefined parameters.
• Data Analysis and Insights: Automated systems can collect and analyze data from phone interactions, providing insights into customer behavior, common queries or issues, peak call times, and more. This information can be used to further improve services and efficiency.
• Freeing up Staff for Complex Tasks: By handling routine tasks, chatbots can free up human staff to focus on more complex issues that require human intervention, judgment, or empathy. Eliminating rote tasks also makes your staff happier and more active at work!

It's important to note that while chatbots can automate many tasks, they should not entirely replace human interaction. Some customers may prefer speaking with a person, particularly for complex or sensitive matters. Therefore, having an option to speak to a human representative is still crucial.

That’s why SuperDial keeps human experts on hand to provide around-the-clock customer support. SuperDial is a fast, accurate, and intuitive way to automate your calls to insurers with conversational AI. Just upload a script, and SuperDial’s AI model will talk through your script with insurers, then provide you with a transcript with the answers to your questions. If the model runs into any issues, human reviewers will round up the missing information and make sure it’s accurate.

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AI use cases in healthcare beyond chatbots

AI has potential use cases across many aspects of healthcare, beyond just chatbots. For curiosity’s sake, here are some of the most promising to think about:

• Disease Diagnosis: AI can analyze medical images such as X-rays, CT scans, or MRIs to assist doctors in diagnosing diseases. AI can also analyze patient symptoms, medical history, and genetic information to predict the likelihood of various diseases.
• Personalized Treatment Plans: AI can help doctors develop individualized treatment plans based on a patient's unique genetic profile, medical history, and current health status. This approach is especially valuable in fields like oncology, where treatment can be highly patient-specific.
• Drug Discovery: AI can speed up the drug discovery process by identifying potential therapeutic targets and predicting how different compounds might interact with these targets. It can also help in designing clinical trials and analyzing the results.
• Clinical Decision Support Systems: These AI tools can provide physicians with real-time, evidence-based guidance as they make clinical decisions. This can help to reduce errors and improve patient outcomes.
• Predictive Analytics: AI can use big data from various sources to predict disease outbreaks, patient readmission rates, and other health trends. This can help health systems better allocate resources and improve patient care.
• Remote Patient Monitoring: AI can analyze data from wearable devices to monitor patients' health in real-time, alerting healthcare providers if there are any significant changes that might require intervention.
• Robot-Assisted Surgery: AI, combined with robotics, can enhance precision and control during surgical procedures, potentially leading to better outcomes and reduced recovery times.
• Genomic Medicine: AI can analyze genetic data to help understand the genetic basis of disease, predict disease risk, and personalize treatment approaches.
• Radiology and Pathology: AI is increasingly being used to help interpret radiological images and pathology slides. It can help identify patterns that might be missed by the human eye, thereby improving diagnostic accuracy.

Though most of these AI use cases are still in the future, conversational AI is here now. And it has the power to revolutionize Revenue Cycle Management. Why wait? Get ahead of the curve with SuperDial.

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