UHC Provider Service Operations Service Excellence

Unitedhealthcare Provider Service Operations (UHC PSO) is business area within Unitedhealthcare. With over 5,800 global employees, we provide best in class multi- channel service to our nation's healthcare providers. This includes answering questions, resolving issues, and processing medical claim settlements. In 2024, PSO was the recipient of recognized with Gold and People's Choice Stevie Awards

Briefly describe the nominated organization: history and past performance (up to 1,250 characters):

Provider Service Operations (PSO) is a provider support organization focused on simplifying digital engagement and improving operational efficiency in healthcare. Known for its practical, data-driven approach, PSO delivers scalable solutions that reduce friction and enhance provider experience.

In 2024, PSO earned a Gold Stevie Award in this same category-Customer Service Transformation, recognizing its shift to a unified desktop and multichannel support. That transformation laid the groundwork for deeper automation, better routing, and stronger advocate tools.

In 2025, PSO continues to build on that foundation. The team remains focused on real-time support, intuitive design, and continuous feedback from providers and advocates. Rather than chasing trends, PSO prioritizes what works-streamlining workflows, reducing contact, and improving satisfaction.

The organization's mission is simple: make provider support easier, faster, and smarter. With a steady track record of improvement and commitment to user-centered design, PSO is evolving its service model in ways that are measurable and meaningful.

Outline the organization's achievements since July 1, 2023 that you wish to bring to the judges' attention (up to 1,500 characters):

Since July 2023, PSO has advanced its chat-first strategy with measurable results. Chat volume rose from 4.5M in 2024 to 6.5M in 2025, with January alone reaching 546,552 chats-more than double the prior year. Digital Containment Rate improved from 12.3% to 20.5%, surpassing the 2025 goal of 19.9%.

These gains were driven by unauthenticated chat, portal redirects, and proactive messaging. Routing logic was refined to reduce misroutes, and AI bots now support claim status, plan details, coverage, and referral history.

Provider satisfaction also improved. Chat NPS rose from 65.8 to 73.9, and User Experience Score increased from 87.9% to 97%. Operational metrics showed efficiency: chat transfer rates dropped from 20% to 14%, and call transfers from 9.53% to 8.8%.

Advocate tools like Advocate Assist and Incognito Chat were introduced, offering real-time SOP-aligned responses and coaching. These changes helped reduce handle time by 30 seconds and improved advocate satisfaction.

Compared to 2024's transformation, which focused on multichannel support and desktop unification-2025's progress reflects deeper automation and smarter routing. The shift is not just technical; it's experiential, improving outcomes for providers and advocates alike.

Explain why the achievements you have highlighted are unique or significant. If possible compare the achievements to the performance of other players in your industry and/or to the organization's past performance (up to 1,500 characters):

PSO's 2025 transformation builds on the foundation set in 2024, advancing from essential digital tools to targeted, intelligence-driven enhancements. While many healthcare organizations continue to struggle with fragmented systems and slow digital adoption, PSO has scaled a provider-friendly, chat-first service model powered by AI, automation, and seamless system integration. These capabilities respond directly to industry trends-71% of patients now prefer digital self-service-and position PSO well ahead of the 2025 Healthcare CX Benchmark, where only 54% of organizations report satisfaction with omnichannel experiences.

The Digital First strategy accelerated chat adoption from 3.2% in 2023 to 24% in 2025 through advanced AI bots that improved routing, reduced transfers, and increased speed-to-resolution. Overall contact rate dropped 10.9% year over year, call contact fell more than 20%, and call transfer rate reached a historic low of 8.8%. The Spire "one-stop desktop" consolidated over 100 systems into a unified advocate and provider experience, while the Multi-Skilled Advocate Model reduced friction and strengthened NPS. These combined initiatives created a more intuitive, lower-cost operational model that providers quickly embraced.

Internally, the Provider Resolution Center (PRC) transformed complex issue handling by reducing resolution times by over 20 days and preventing more than 10 million abrasion moments from 2024-2025, eliminating unnecessary contacts and improving provider trust.

Provider satisfaction remained industry-leading: Call NPS 84.2 (+1 point), UES 97.3%, Chat NPS 73.9 (+6 points), Chat UES 90.2%, proving that PSO successfully shifted volume to higher-satisfaction, digitally supported channels while service complexity increased.

Finally, PSO delivered $65 million in operational savings-$12 million above plan-a direct result of targeted digital investments, automation, and redesigned workflows. These outcomes demonstrate PSO's commitment to lowering healthcare costs while elevating provider and member experience across every service channel.

Reference any attachments of supporting materials throughout this nomination and how they provide evidence of the claims you have made in this nomination (up to 1,500 characters):

• Supporting materials include dashboards, that show improvements in satisfaction, efficiency, and containment.
• Videos of bot interactions and routing logic demonstrate how automation supports providers and advocates in real time.
• AI Human In the Loop Video discusses the PSO AI Strategy