DUOS expands AI capabilities to help seniors apply for assistance programs

It will complete and submit forms, and integrate with state benefit systems

America is aging pretty rapidly: the number of people aged 65 and over grew from 2010 to 2020 at the fastest rate since 1880 to 1890 and reached 55.8 million, a 38.6% increase in just 10 years. It's predicted that the proportion of the world’s population over 60 will reach 22% by 2050.

DUOS is on a mission to help people age with confidence and dignity, and independently, by connecting them the full suite of benefits offered by their health plan. Last year, the company introduced an AI-based platform, DUOS+AI, to connect seniors to healthcare benefits, using a large language model (LLM) that allow the platform to recommend healthcare services based on the unique social determinants of health (SDOH) and care navigation needs of a member, their caregiver, or care manager. 

This week, DUOS announced the addition of new features to its AI platform, including the ability to tap into end-to-end applications for federal and state assistance programs across all 50 states. That includes Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Veteran assistance, and Medicaid, matching the user with the correct benefits.

The platform will also use AI to help complete and submit forms to the appropriate state and federal government agencies on behalf of members using data provided by health plan partners and self-attestation. Users will then be able to review, submit, and their mail applications.

The platform will also integrates with state benefit systems for existing DUOS users, making sure that all relevant benefits are preloaded for faster processing. Members can self-service their applications while tracking their progress.

DUOS believe that these new features will allow health plans to gain better insights into the status of member applications and the needs of their members.

The announcement comes on the heels of DUOS’ launch of Chat 2.0 in October, which integrated Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) with member-specific documents, along with enhanced multilingual support and the ability to handle informal language.

DUOS+AI triages member’s needs and matches them with actions, such as relevant benefits, resources, and content. For care teams, the AI enables the company to match really complex and diverse patient needs with scattered plan benefits, government programs, and community-based resources. Meanwhile, for older adults, they are of course getting their needs met, and for the vast majority of them, at no cost.

DUOS is available in all fifty states, depending on health plan coverage, and it currently has 100,000 members; on the care manager side, over 100 people have used the platform.

“At our core, we’re not just striving to add years to people’s lives, but to enhance the quality of those years,” Karl Ulfers,founder and Chief Executive Officer at DUOS, said in a statement.

“We believe that food security, access to care, and understanding what benefits are available to truly support health are essential parts of the equation. DUOS is the connective tissue—bridging what matters most to members. We aim to be the 'easy button,' simplifying complexities and improving access to care.”

(Image source: getduos.com)