Cigna using AI, analytics to monitor patient health

One of the world’s largest insurance providers is now using AI and data analytics to monitor patient data, deliver personalized messages and update electronic medical records for physicians.

According to a new report from the Wall Street Journal, Cigna Corp. started rolling out this new AI-powered solution, Health Connect 360, in certain areas earlier this year. Health Connect 360 was designed with chronic illnesses in mind, providing patient insights through a dashboard accessible by users and healthcare providers who are granted access.

Express Scripts Holding Co. was already developing the solution when the company’s $54 billion merger with Cigna was announced in December 2018.

“That was our concept around the acquisition of Express Scripts—it was much more than just simply buying a pharmacy-benefits management [company],” Mark Boxer, Cigna chief information officer, told the Wall Street Journal. “It was buying a set of care-management capabilities, and access to data and intelligence that would be very, very hard to replicate.”

Health Connect 360 will be made available to all Express Scripts/Cigna employees beginning in 2020. Cigna has already been using AI to predict if patients may abuse or overdose on prescription opioids since 2018.

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Michael Walter
Michael Walter, Managing Editor

Michael has more than 18 years of experience as a professional writer and editor. He has written at length about cardiology, radiology, artificial intelligence and other key healthcare topics.

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