Wipro started its automation journey in the late noughties and has since gone on to set up a dedicated RPA practice, and also developed its own AI platform, Wipro Holmes. Currently, Wipro is principally partnering with Automation Anywhere for RPA software.

Clients showing early interest had questions around which insurance processes bots could most easily be deployed in, and where should they be applying RPA. The processes Wipro found to be most suitable for application of RPA in the insurance sector are claims processing and new business, and hence these are the key focus areas for Wipro.

Efficiency improvements of ~40% in target insurance sub-processes

Today, over 50% of Wipro’s RPA clients are in the BFSI sector, with ~40% using bots for data entry processes and 60% for rules-based services. Wipro currently has four clients for RPA services in the insurance sector split across life, annuities & pensions (LA&P), property & casualty (P&C), and healthcare insurance. Two of these companies are focused on a single geography and two are multi-geography, including U.S., Europe, LATAM and the Middle East.  

One of the insurance clients is a Swiss provider of life and P&C services for whom Wipro provides RPA in support of new business data entry. Pre-bots, the filling in of a new business form required the use of multiple unsynchronized screens to collect the necessary information. To address this issue, Wipro developed an interface (a replica of the application form) to enable 100% automated data entry using bots, a typical ‘swivel chair’ use of RPA. This yielded a 30% - 40% efficiency improvement.

In the healthcare payer sector, Wipro has implemented RPA in support of provider contract data management, specifically in the area of contract validation. Here, Wipro designed four bots in 90 days, automating ~75% of the contract validation process and improving productivity by ~40%.

In 2016, Wipro has noticed a shift in customer attitude, with organizations now appreciating the enhanced accuracy and level of auditability that RPA brings.

Of course, the implementation of RPA is not without its objections. One frequent question from organizations just starting the RPA journey is ‘how do I stop bots going berserk if the process changes?’, since once programmed, the bots are unable to do anything other than what they have been programmed to do. Accordingly, Wipro ensures that any changes that occur in a given process are flagged up in the command centre before an attempt is made for them to be carried out by a bot, and a signal is given that the bot needs ‘re-training’ in order to carry out that process.

Secondly, IT departments sometimes ask how long the bots are required to stay in the work environment and how do they fit into an overall IT transformation strategy. Wipro’s response is to treat the bot like an FTE and to keep it for as long as it is achieving benefit, ‘re-training’ it as required. Wipro suggests that bots wouldn’t conflict with the aims of an IT transformation, and ought to be considered as complementary to an IT transformation.

Complementing RPA with Cognitive using Holmes

So far, so good for Wipro regarding its application of RPA in the insurance sector. RPA is being used to address data entry processes (40% of activity) and rules-based transaction processing areas such as claims (60% of current activity). However, this still leaves the question of complementing the rigid process execution of RPA with machine learning and self-learning processes, and also the question of addressing knowledge-based processing requiring human judgment.

This is where Wipro Holmes comes into the picture – a proprietary AI platform with applications for cognitive process automation, knowledge visualization, and predictive services. The platform is not currently being used with insurance clients, but conversations are expected to start within the next 9 months. It is expected that, in contrast to the RPA conversations which were led by Wipro in more than 95% of cases, the AI discussion will be led by existing RPA clients and across a wider pool of services, including finance & accounting (F&A).

Accordingly, the focus now is on developing Wipro Holmes, to ensure it is ready for use with clients in 2017. Insurance activities that will benefit first from this platform could include the area of Know Your Customer (KYC) compliance, to enable more rapid client on-boarding. 

NelsonHall estimates that the healthcare payer BPS market is worth ~$9.4bn in 2015, and is set to grow at a CAAGR of ~7.6% through 2019, reaching ~$12.6bn in 2019. Of that, we estimate that the government payer market will grow from ~5.3bn to ~7bn, while the commercial payer market will grow from ~4.1bn to ~5.6bn with a CAAGR of ~8.3%.

Health plans are increasingly complying with ACA mandates by trying to provide care to a bigger percentage of the U.S. population, which means that cost reduction is key. There are many opportunities for BPS vendors to help clients reduce costs in areas of intensive manual labor via process automation in both the back office and front office. More than 70% of vendors interviewed by NelsonHall are offering such services, with others planning to do so. There is an increasing tendency to use workflow tools and optimize processes through robotic automation, reducing cost and time in claims management, for example.

Beyond cost reduction, the need for clinical analytics to help improve quality of care is also a key market driver. Healthcare regulations and the ageing long-term care and Medicaid population are driving the need to improve medical management analytics and processes through improving STAR and HEDIS ratings, improving clinical outcomes through use of analytics, improving care management with U.S. qualified nurses, and outcome-based services.

A third key driver is the need to engage members in a more consumer-centric manner. Population health management trends, as well as a changing perception of patients as consumers, means that member engagement offerings are essential for healthcare payers. Relevant services include enrollment, using omni-channel approaches, wellness support, and member engagement through U.S. registered nurses.

According to a panel presentation on healthcare reforms from the global think-tank The Hamilton Group in October 2015, healthcare regulation policies have led to significant decreases in the plan premiums that U.S. insurance consumers pay on average. However, evidence presented showed that patients do not make the optimum choice of health plans when buying insurance. The relative complexity involved in buying insurance in health insurance exchanges (HIX) across the U.S. presents another opportunity for BPS vendors to improve member engagement. Around 40% of vendors interviewed are currently providing such advisory services. These include Concentrix, EXL, HGS and Hewlett Packard Enterprise Services.

Telemedicine, and monitoring long-term care patients from a distance are two more trends on the rise. Xerox has already taken steps in this direction by partnering with HealthSpot, a company providing kiosk-based telehealth services, an alternative to retail and on-site clinics.

In summary, the keys to success in healthcare payer BPS lie in a combination of increased process automation, improved analytics capability, and a more consumer-centric approach.

You can find out much more about what’s driving the U.S. healthcare payer BPS market and about vendors service offerings, as well as understanding the challenges and critical success factors in this market, in NelsonHall’s newly published Targeting Healthcare Payer BPS in the U.S. report.