UnitedHealth tracks employee AI use

UnitedHealth Group is tracking how often some employees use artificial intelligence tools as it pushes the technology deeper into daily operations, Bloomberg reported on May 15, citing people familiar with the matter. The report said some Optum employees were being measured on whether they made at least one AI query a day. UnitedHealth has also tied the effort to a broader overhaul of prior authorization, claims and customer-service workflows, according to company statements and recent public remarks. The company has said it expects AI to be a major operating focus in 2026 and 2027. ### Which employees are being measured, and on what? Bloomberg reported that UnitedHealth is monitoring usage of AI tools by some workers rather than just making the software available. The report said the company was tracking how often employees used the tools and, for some Optum workers, whether they made at least one query each day. (bloomberg.com) Optum is the company’s health-services arm, with businesses spanning pharmacy benefits, care delivery, revenue-cycle software and payer technology. That matters because many of UnitedHealth’s AI products are being built inside Optum and then used across UnitedHealthcare and external clients, according to company materials and recent product announcements. (bloomberg.com) ### How does this fit into UnitedHealth’s broader AI plan? April 21 was the date UnitedHealth executives used their first-quarter earnings call to outline a larger AI spending push. Trade and financial press reports on the call said the company planned to spend about $1.5 billion on AI in 2026, with projects aimed at software, prior authorization, pharmacy benefits and internal workflows. (optum.com) UnitedHealth’s investor materials also list “increasing use of artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies” among the company’s risk factors. That language places the AI expansion inside the company’s formal disclosures even as management presents it as a productivity and operating initiative. ### Where is the company using AI most visibly right now? (beckershospitalreview.com) February 4 is when Optum announced AI-powered prior authorization products for payers and providers. Optum said its Digital Auth Complete product helps providers assemble and submit authorization requests, while InterQual Auth Accelerator helps payers review medical necessity using clinical criteria and AI models refined by clinical experts. (unitedhealthgroup.com) Optum said those tools are designed to cut manual work and speed decisions. In the same announcement, the company said the workflow could eliminate 45% of manual touches, lift processing efficiency by 80% and has produced a 96% first-pass approval rate in recent Humata Health deployments. John Kontor, a senior vice president of clinical technology at Optum Insight, said the company was trying to make the process “simpler and faster” for patients to get appropriate care. (optum.com) ### What has UnitedHealthcare said about prior authorization itself? May 5 is when UnitedHealthcare said it would eliminate authorization requirements for 30% of services that still required insurer approval. The company said prior authorization is now required for only 2% of its medical services and that about 92% of submitted requests are approved in less than 24 hours on average. (optum.com) Tim Noel, chief executive officer of UnitedHealthcare, said prior authorization should be used only when it “truly protects patients and improves care.” The company also said more than 70% of its prior authorizations will be part of a standardized electronic submission process by the end of 2026, a step it said would support greater automation and interoperability. (unitedhealthgroup.com) ### What is the next milestone to watch? The end of 2026 is UnitedHealthcare’s next public deadline for eliminating another 30% of its remaining prior authorizations and expanding standardized electronic submissions, according to the company. A fuller list of the affected services is due on UHCProvider.com before the changes take effect. (unitedhealthgroup.com) The end of 2027 is the larger date attached to UnitedHealth’s push for real-time prior authorization across more of its workflows, according to Bloomberg’s report and follow-up coverage. That timeline, together with the company’s employee-usage tracking, gives investors and customers a concrete set of milestones to watch in Optum and UnitedHealthcare over the next 18 months. (bloomberg.com) (unitedhealthgroup.com)