Prudential PLC is using MedLM, Google’s family of foundation models fine-tuned for healthcare industry use cases, to improve the accuracy and efficiency of medical insurance claim decisions. This was announced today.

Prudential is one of the first insurance providers globally to use MedLM – which is typically used by healthcare organizations to build solutions for doctors, hospitals, and other medical providers to deliver better experiences for healthcare workers and patients.

Starting in Singapore and Malaysia, Prudential will use MedLM to analyse documents submitted alongside health insurance claims, such as diagnostic reports, prescriptions and invoices.

MedLM supports human decision-making with its ability to extract relevant information and code it accurately for claims, helping to reduce the potential for errors caused by manual data entry, so claims can be processed faster and more accurately.

The announcement follows several proof-of-concept tests by Prudential that showed its use of MedLM doubled the automation rate of claim reviews and assessments, in addition to improving the accuracy of claims decisions – allowing the insurer to handle a higher volume and velocity of claims while improving overall customer experience.

“Prudential’s early tests with MedLM demonstrate that generative AI can play a major role in efficiently tackling the growing volume of health insurance claims, resulting in more frictionless processing and a faster turnaround time for customers,” said Arjan Toor, CEO, Health at Prudential plc. “We’re proud to pioneer this innovative approach to using MedLM to support our operational efficiency as we continue to expand our health insurance offering – while delivering our mission to be the most trusted health partner for customers in Asia and Africa.”

Prudential will apply MedLM to select medical insurance claims made in Singapore and Malaysia over a period of 3-4 months, then compare the AI’s analysis and advice to actual decisions using current approvals processes during this time.

Doing so will help Prudential identify areas where MedLM can deliver the greatest productivity improvements and most useful advice to claims assessors, while maintaining a “human in the loop” at critical stages of the decision-making process.

“In a fragmented and often confusing healthcare landscape, data and AI are enabling us to provide care beyond coverage for our customers,” said Toor. “Our strategic partnership with Google Cloud has given us a valuable first-mover advantage in adopting generative AI to improve the customer experience at an important moment of truth. This is just the first step in using generative AI to deliver seamless, digitally enabled healthcare experiences at every step of our customers’ health journey; from the point of diagnosis, through treatment, recovery and prevention.”

“Prudential has taken a truly innovative approach by adapting MedLM’s advanced healthcare and medical-specific capabilities to one of its core business processes,” said Karan Bajwa, vice president, Google Cloud in Asia Pacific. “This collaboration exemplifies how our strategic partnership with Prudential can empower its workforce to drive confident decision-making, improve the overall experience for policy holders, and create meaningful innovation in healthcare and finance.”

• Partnership will empower Prudential’s 15,000 employees to use AI to better serve its customers, with end-to-end support from Google Cloud
• New ‘AI Lab’ will initially focus on use cases that deliver better healthcare experiences and operational excellence

Prudential plc (Prudential) and Google Cloud has announced an expanded strategic partnership to build innovative AI-powered products and applications that will help enhance customer, agent and employee experiences.

Google Cloud will support Prudential’s new AI Lab – the first partnership of its kind for the insurance industry in Asia and Africa – which will focus on solving business and customer challenges.

Launching later this year, the AI Lab is designed to accelerate Prudential’s adoption of machine learning, AI and generative AI (gen AI), while also driving progress towards Prudential’s strategic priorities of: Delivering a better customer experience; Driving technology-powered distribution; and Improving access to affordable, quality healthcare

The Lab will provide Prudential’s 15,000 employees with a new sandbox environment and step-by-step process for turning their ideas into scalable AI products and applications.

This includes access to leading large language models, advanced and secure gen AI and data analytics solutions, and end-to-end Cloud provision.

The partnership presents an opportunity to shape the future of AI in life and health insurance.

Supported by Google Cloud’s deep expertise in health-focused AI, the Lab will initially prioritise ways of using AI to provide improved access to quality healthcare, while supporting agents’ ability to deliver a seamless and personalised customer experience.

The Lab will also focus on using AI to improve operating processes – with the goal of delivering a better experience for customers, agents and employees alike, and driving new, bottom-line efficiencies.

Anil Wadhwani, chief executive officer, Prudential PLC, said:

“Prudential is committed to leveraging technological innovation to create value for all our stakeholders. We are actively using data, advanced analytics and AI to create an exceptional customer and agent experience – while helping us work smarter and faster. Our expanded partnership with Google Cloud will unlock the innovation and creativity of our 15,000 employees and increase our speed to market, particularly in health insurance, where we see tremendous growth opportunities. By deepening our collaboration, we will build the future of insurance for our customers.”

Thomas Kurian, CEO, Google Cloud, said:

“Generative AI represents a significant opportunity to drive innovation in the insurance industry. Our collaboration with Prudential and the launch of its AI Lab will help to reimagine customer experiences, optimise operations, and unlock new growth possibilities. Google Cloud is committed to providing the AI and data analytics capabilities, as well as the expertise needed to support Prudential’s vision for the future of insurance.”

Based in Singapore, the AI Lab will also partner with institutes of higher learning, research centres, promising start-ups and AI experts.

This launch deepens the working relationship between Prudential and Google Cloud that was established in 2019.

With the aim of driving better insurance, health, and financial outcomes across Asia and Africa, both organisations have been collaborating on digital transformation initiatives that have the potential to benefit millions globally.

Under this alliance, Prudential will leverage Google Cloud’s data analytics capabilities, secure and sustainable infrastructure, and the broader Google ecosystem, to accelerate its digital transformation and to enhance user engagement of its health and wealth platform, Pulse. 

For Google Cloud, this partnership with Prudential presents an opportunity to collaborate with a leading insurance provider to make protection, health and savings solutions simpler and more accessible across Asia and Africa.

Pulse is part of Prudential’s multi-channel strategy to make healthcare more accessible and increase financial inclusion. The app provides users with access to services such as health risk assessment and online doctor consultation to help them better manage their health needs, as well as digital wealth tools to make financial decisions simpler1. Pulse is available in 17 markets and 11 languages.

Solmaz Altin, Managing Director, Strategic Business Group, Prudential, said: “Across our markets, people are living longer, but not necessarily healthier and better. Harnessing technology, we want to empower people to live well for longer by making it easier for them to take care of their health and plan for their financial futures.

“Through this strategic partnership, we will leverage new technology solutions to make the Pulse platform more intelligent and engaging with the aim of reaching out to more people across Asia and Africa, in particular those who cannot easily access health and financial information and services.”

This announcement deepens the existing relationship between Prudential and Google that began in 2019. Prudential is using Google Maps in the Pulse application, and further projects with Google Health, Document AI and Fitbit are being explored to enhance efficiency, functionality and user engagement.

Prudential expects to benefit from Google’s suite of data analytics, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning tools such as Kubeflow, Looker, BigQuery and Vertex AI, to enhance customer interactions and to provide more personalised, accurate healthcare information and education to Pulse app users.

In the longer term, Prudential will look to adopt Google’s AI across a broader digital strategy to make accessing insurance simpler, to drive greater efficiency, and to increase agent productivity. For example, through technology such as advanced analytics and AI, Prudential aims to use data to help its agents better understand the needs of their customers. It is also looking to improve customer experience, by digitising the entire claims process, making submission, assessment, and approval more seamless and efficient.

“At Google Cloud, our aim is to help our enterprise customers use technology to deliver outstanding experiences for their customers,” said Thomas Kurian, CEO of Google Cloud. “Prudential is a significant partner of ours and a leading insurer that has been protecting lives for nearly 175 years globally. Our work together will make it easier for people to safeguard their health and protect their finances for the long term with digital tools that are accessible.”

Prudential has more than 530,000 agents across its 23 markets in Asia and Africa and over 170 bancassurance partners with access to circa 27,600 bank branches, serving more than 19 million customers.