Expion Health enhances its RFP process using artificial intelligence

Expion, a company with just six underwriters, was only able to respond to around 200 RFPs per year, which limited their ability to attract new business. To address this issue, the Expion IT team decided to automate the underwriting process for prescription cost management.

In August 2023, the IT team, with support from executive leadership, initiated a project to automate the complex underwriting process. Two AI developers at Expion created ExpionIQ Advisor, a tool that automates prescription RFPs using linear regression, multiple algorithms, and custom-built AI models. The team plans to enhance the application further by utilizing the XGBoost machine learning software library for forecasting medication use in covered populations.

ExpionIQ Advisor has significantly reduced the time required to calculate the numbers needed for an RFP, from days to just a few hours. This has enabled employees to verify the work done by the application and make corrections if necessary. With this new tool, the team is better equipped to identify and address any issues that may arise during the prediction process.

The web-based .NET application on the front end of ExpionIQ Advisor allows underwriters and other users to log in and access the system easily. The application compiles all the data, performs final computations, and presents the information in a user-friendly manner, as well as provides a printout for end customers. Overall, the automation of the underwriting process has streamlined operations at Expion and improved efficiency.