Early last month insurance company, Prudential, announced the launch of their pilot e-claims program in Singapore. This initiative will incorporate text mining and artificial intelligence (AI) software on their digital platform allowing them to reduce the time needed for processing medical claims, from the seven days required now, down to seconds upon submission of the claim. Claim applicants can now apply by uploading scanned invoices through the portal. The AI and text mining software will then identify, categorize, and assess the validity of the claim and make a recommendation on the outcome and amount payable. Although the new process would greatly increase efficiency by offering a shorter turnaround time, there has also been some doubts towards the accuracy of the e-claims platform and towards fraudulent cases abusing the system. Prudential, however, is confident of the accuracy of the system and mentioned that the platform has been backtested using claims data from the last two years and has reached a good level of accuracy. The first phase of the pilot program is set to automate the processing of PRUshield pre- and post-hospitalization claims at eight major hospitals in Singapore. PRUshield is a Singapore government-approved health insurance plan that can complement national health insurance, providing the beneficiary with extensive coverage for medical and hospitalization bills. This category of claims currently accounts for the bulk of the 14,000 paper bills and receipts that assessors must review every month and the full launch is expected to roll out by the second half of 2018. Other market leaders in the insurance industry such as Great Eastern and AIA Singapore responded to the development by introducing similar initiatives involving digitization that will increase efficiency and improve customer experience. Together with the new e-claims system launched by Prudential, we can expect digitization to revolutionize the insurance industry in the coming future. According to RFi Group 17H2 Singapore Priority and Retail Banking Council 17H2, when asked about their likelihood to recommend their insurance provider on a scale of 0 to 10, 35% of respondents gave a score of 8 or higher with the average recommendation score is 6.6. With the new e-claims program offered by Prudential, we can expect an upward shift in recommendation score through improved customer experience.
Insurance giant Prudential is piloting its e - claims programme in Singapore . Medical student applicants can now apply by uploading scanned invoices into a portal , where artificial intelligence and text mining software identifies , categorises and assesses the validity of a claim . It can then make a recommendation on outcome and payable amount within seconds of submission , rather than within seven days , as at present . The initial phase of the scheme will see the automation of pre- and post - hospital admission procedures at eight main hospitals in Singapore , with a full implementation planned later in 2018 .