Cigna invests $100 million in new AI-powered specialty pharmacy program

July 1 (Reuters) - Cigna ‌said on ​Wednesday ​its health services unit Evernorth has launched a new AI-powered specialty pharmacy program to ‌reduce the time it takes to process prescriptions ⁠and improve customer service.

The program, called Pharmacy Forward, is supported ‌by a $100 million investment ‌through 2028, the health insurer said.

Here are more details:

• The company is launching the AI program first ​through its specialty pharmacy, Accredo.

• The program uses AI to integrate clinical data and insights, ⁠generate summaries to free up more time for clinicians to focus on ​patient care.

• 'Pharmacy Forward' is expected to reduce clinician documentation time by up to 50%, ​the company said.

• The program uses ‌AI to improve prior authorization requests, halving the time it takes for patients ⁠to receive their medication after Accredo receives a prescription, the company said.

• Health insurers are increasingly adopting artificial ⁠intelligence tools to streamline documentation processes, reduce administrative burdens and lower ​costs.

• Accredo is also expanding capacity, staffing, and capabilities at many of its nearly 40 care facilities, Cigna said.

• The ‌program is expected to generate about $400 million in value by the end of ‌2028, with Evernorth expecting to extend many of ⁠these capabilities to its ‌other pharmacy operations ​in the coming years, it said.

(Reporting by Sneha S K in Bengaluru; Editing by Leroy ‌Leo)

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