UPMC Partners with Cavulus to Serve Health Insurance Industry

PITTSBURGH, Sept. 13, 2016 – UPMC and Cavulus, a software and services company serving the health insurance industry, announced today that they have formed a strategic partnership in which UPMC will invest in Cavulus and provide insights and development assistance for the growth of its cloud-based technology.

Serving more than 35 health plans across the country, including UPMC Health Plan, Cavulus’ solutions help insurance companies automate marketing, sales, enrollment, retention and compliance operations, primarily in the Medicare Advantage market. Boosted by Cavulus’ predictive modeling and data analytics tools, the company’s clients have grown membership 20 percent faster than the Medicare Advantage industry average over the past five years.

“We share UPMC’s vision of consumer-centered, affordable health care, driven by innovation and technology,” said Patrick Phillips, chief executive officer of 10-year-old Cavulus. “As a strategic partner and customer, UPMC will provide Cavulus with the expertise that we need to expand our products and services, particularly to meet the needs of the Health Insurance Exchange market.”

The UPMC Health Plan has been a Cavulus customer for three years to support member acquisition for its Medicare Advantage business, which now has more than 134,000 members. “We continue to be impressed with the extensive knowledge that the Cavulus team brings to the table in a complex, highly regulated and very competitive business,” said Mary Beth Jenkins, senior vice president and chief operating officer for the UPMC Health Plan. “We’re excited about the opportunity to co-develop new functionality for this technology.”

Cavulus expects to rapidly extend its product, creating a truly end-to-end solution for targeting, acquiring, managing and retaining health insurance customers.

“Like other partners of UPMC Enterprises, Cavulus can accelerate its growth and reduce its risks by working closely with one of the nation’s leading integrated health care delivery and financing systems,” said Tal Heppenstall, president of UPMC Enterprises, the commercialization arm of UPMC that led the agreement. “This is the kind of strategic partnership that few other health care investors can match.”