Humana and UnitedHealth launch insurance company blockchain pilot

InsuranceBee and Hiscox launch insurance agent partner program

The massive American insurers have announced their test to improve healthcare data quality.

Two of the largest insurers in the United States have come together to launch an insurance company blockchain pilot. The purpose is to be able to improve the quality of healthcare data.

This technology could provide a considerable opportunity for data analytics for health insurers.

Humana and UnitedHealth Group are traditionally competitors in the health insurance industry. However, they are working together in this insurance company blockchain pilot program. They are partnered with Quest Diagnostics and MultiPlan throughout this technology test.

Officially, UnitedHealth Group is participating in this insurance technology test by way of its UnitedHealthcare and Optum subsidiaries. If they are able to significantly improve the quality of the data they collect and analyze, the opportunities this could present insurance companies could be vast.

The companies released a joint statement regarding their health insurance company blockchain pilot.

“The pilot will examine how sharing data across health care organizations on blockchain technology can improve data accuracy, streamline administration and improve access to care,” read the statement.

The insurers have yet to state whether or not the pilot will be integrated into an existing platform or whether an entirely new platform will be developed for the purpose. Humana and UnitedHealthcare also did not immediately respond to requests for additional details regarding this insurance technology testing.

Equally, what is known is that the pilot program is testing a central struggle within the healthcare and health insurance industries: data reconciliation. This challenge comes with a price tag as high a $2.1 billion every year, according to some estimates.

Furthermore, insurance providers such as UnitedHealth have been watching blockchain technology for some time now. It has clear potential. However, implementing it in a practical way requires entry into untested territories.

UnitedHealth isn’t alone in seeing the appeal of insurance company blockchain technology. Insurers have been tossing ideas around for the last few years. In fact, earlier this month a group of reinsurers and insurers came together to launch a new commercial venture developed from an existing consortium program. The industry is most certainly watching to see how UnitedHealth and Humana’s own test performs.

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