Introduction
One of the best aspects that keep health insurance companies in the business is advancement in marketing. Currently, the eruption of the covid-19 pandemic has increased the influx of people who need health insurance covers. Insurers are struggling due to increased demand for online and offline support services. To keep up with the pace of increased demand in the market, every managing department in health insurance companies is in a bid to improvise efficient means to improve service delivery. Among the companies in this sector who have been able to achieve success in their service delivery are said to have embraced the policy of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Notably, health insurance companies are also in business, and the only sure way to keep them in business would be to come up with very informed marketing strategies. Therefore, Artificial Intelligence has proved to be one of the approaches to reckon with as far as marketing is concerned. It entails performing tasks that usually require human intelligence through computer system developments. It achieves this through applications that include software simulation and robotics. Artificial Intelligence serves as the most appropriate online conversational agent. This paper explores the challenges and the opportunities that come with incorporating AI as an online conversational agent.
Challenges
For every idea to be wholly embraced by its targeted audience, challenges must face it whatsoever. Artificial Intelligence in health insurance is not exceptional. Furthermore, challenges exist to be overcome. The beauty of insurance companies is that they are bound to risk. Hence, they put everyday challenges into account in all their undertakings. A survey conducted by a Teradata firm dealing with data analytics shows that 32 percent of enterprise-level companies in marketing use AI in their business. However, 90 percent of these companies declared challenges for adopting and integrating AI as a significant barrier (Paschen et al., 2019). Insufficient IT infrastructures, poor data quality, budget insufficiency, and lack of talented personnel stand as the main challenge here, among others.
AI tech processes massive data and needs a robust IT infrastructure to operate. Therefore, for this marketing strategy to bear fruit in health insurance, they must set up expensive computer systems. Further, maintenance costs and frequent updates have to be incurred. Insurance companies with ample reserves are likely to sail through without much ado in such a scenario. Companies that stretch their finances to facilitate this system suffer and cannot operate, something possible to demotivate customers and maybe opt to look for services elsewhere.
Data quality is another determinant of the number of challenges that faces an insurance company if it goes for Artificial Intelligence as a means of marketing. High-quality data is required failure to, which results in losses in business. If AI is not fed with quality data or the amount of information be insufficient poor results will be achieved. If customers get little data about an insurance company or no data, they are not likely to subscribe to the company’s services. The insurance company is moving towards a big data world and is collecting a massive amount of data. However, at times this data is not fit for a successful AI strategy for marketing.
Mistrust is a common challenge bearing in mind that AI is a new technology with some reported complexity. Therefore, people will embrace it with ease, especially if they have not been appropriately oriented about it. Insurance involves dealing with the insured’s data, and people will not be willing to reveal their privy information to a strategy they are not familiar with. If proper orientation is done, it will boost transparency, which will be the only way to improve customer count.
There has been a reported AI skills gap, which has greatly impacted health insurance companies that want to develop talents to aid them in AI marketing solutions. Additionally, this problem is anticipated to worsen as insurance companies embracing AI technology are ever-growing despite the limited number of people with the AI tech know-how. A significant setback is that even ready-made AI marketing software needs sufficient skilled personnel to manage and interpret.
Opportunities
AI tech has equally come along with many strengths that cannot be ignored. New opportunities have been realized courtesy of the AI technology and consequently improving the volume of business in health insurance. A marketing strategy has positively impacted insurance in multiple ways. Efficient claim processing, fraud detection, customer service, and underwriting have succeeded due to this technology (Dick, 2019). Mainly, opportunities coming along with AI have exponentially increased due to the rise of inaccessible data, proficiency in computing capabilities, and the changing consumer expectations.
AI has greatly improved customer services in healthcare insurance. Now insurers can incorporate machine learning and data analytics that have been able to boost, recommend, promote content, and give suggestions to answer questions from members periodically. It has put agents in the best position to help them insured quickly and with ease. Furthermore, keeping customers waiting is costly and demotivating. AI has come for the aid of these agents and can now execute their duties in the best way possible and consequently enhance business. Thanks to this marketing strategy.
Health insurers and their insured are vulnerable to fraud. Fraudsters mainly target them due to the amount of money they engage with and their large volume of customers. AI marketing has proved to solve this problem for the better. Trust, protection, and security are the primary commodities in an insurance company, so they should not be compromised. Due to its enhanced efficiency, AI can analyze vast transactions to uncover fraud trends (Hilary, 2022). Subsequently, it can detect fraud in real-time. This strategy curbed scums such as false invoices, management fraud, claim compensation, and indemnification of casualties in health insurance.
The AI tech has equally enhanced underwriting and claim processing. Underwriting in insurance is an entity undertaking to market newly issued securities. AI marketing tech has increased efficiency and workflows by accelerating the underwriting processes in health insurance (Nikodem, 2019). Underwriters can accurately realize optimal rates on individual customers, enhancing risk management. Insurers are using AI-enhance pricing models that have helped them reduce the time taken to introduce new pricing frameworks, which boost the process of underwriting. From here, underwriters can apply AI solutions to get essential information for their clients.
Claim processing has also been enhanced by AI when a customer opens an insurance claim. Through data analysis, AI has provided beneficial recommendations on claim management. Therefore, the insurer can determine eligible claims and the consistency in which claims ought to be settled. The insight gotten here has accelerated decision-making, leading to better customer experiences. The overall return is that the business has improved in health insurance with decent profit margins.
Recommendation
For businesses experiencing difficulties serving their customers due to a lack of proper marketing strategies, it is only recommendable that they embark on the most efficient marketing strategies available. However, they should not go for the ancient approach as it is not likely to achieve the deemed fruition. Instead, health insurers should opt for the current means, which are automated and fit in the digital world. Artificial Intelligence means of marketing is the best one available. The modern business field is ever advocating for innovation, for they are aware of the benefits of being innovative. Things and how they are done are changing. To cope with this change, health insurance should advance its means of service accordingly.
Conclusion
The bottom line is that health insurance companies need to advance in their marketing strategies. The AI strategy is the best option. It has been able to realize the best results despite constraints in the market. The achieved benefits include efficient service delivery to customers and improved profit margin and business volume. Generally, AI marketing has come to enhance the safety of both the insurer and the insured. The good thing with Artificial Intelligence marketing strategy is that the challenges which come with it can be easily solved. Online conversational agents should be incorporated in the modern health insurance business as the best means for marketing.
References
Bao, Y., Hilary, G., & Ke, B. (2022). Artificial intelligence and fraud detection. In Innovative Technology at the Interface of Finance and Operations (pp. 223-247). Springer, Cham. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-75729-8_8
Dick, S. (2019). Artificial intelligence. https://hdsr.mitpress.mit.edu/pub/0aytgrau
Nikodem, E. (2019). Understanding underwriting: A look inside commercial real estate insurance—breaking down the driving differentiators behind property insurance pricing. Corporate Real Estate Journal, 8(3), 228-234. https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/hsp/crej/2019/00000008/00000003/art00004
Paschen, J., Kietzmann, J., & Kietzmann, T. C. (2019). Artificial intelligence (AI) and its implications for market knowledge in B2B marketing. Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing. https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/JBIM-10-2018-0295/full/html
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