GenAI & Cloud in healthcare: using social data in a future-proof way

AOK Lower Saxony uses generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) and innovative cloud services to automate its processes, improve service quality and meet the requirements of the healthcare sector. As a strategic partner, adesso supports the development and implementation of forward-looking AI solutions in compliance with the highest IT security and data protection standards.

Statutory health insurance companies face the complex task of balancing rising costs, a shortage of skilled workers and growing expectations regarding service quality. In order to remain competitive and future-proof, AOK Lower Saxony decided to set up an AI competence centre. The aim was to use GenAI technologies that not only increase efficiency but also improve the quality of care for insured persons.

The healthcare sector places high demands on data protection and data security. It requires in-depth industry knowledge to ensure that GenAI and cloud projects do not become a balancing act between innovation and the protection of insured persons. AOK Lower Saxony was therefore looking for an integration partner that could deeply integrate AI into existing systems and processes in order to generate maximum added value.

Of utmost importance here is the legally compliant processing of social and health data. With the Digital Act (DigiG), the regulatory framework for the use of cloud computing services in the healthcare sector was laid down in Section 393 of the German Social Code (SGB V) to ensure the protection of sensitive data. A corresponding level of protection when handling social and health data was therefore one of the special requirements.

In a strategic AI integration partnership, AOK Niedersachsen and adesso implemented a process for introducing GenAI technologies. The aim was to develop specific use cases iteratively and create a technological basis for operating scalable GenAI services in a hybrid cloud environment. The highest standards of data protection and regulatory compliance were met, including notification to the relevant supervisory authority.

The integration of GenAI solutions focused on optimising dark processing routes and transforming business processes. The integration partnership focuses on the following use cases:

• Automation of input management: A customised add-on to an Intelligent Document Processing (IDP) solution is seamlessly integrated into the existing enterprise architecture. adesso developed this solution for document extraction with the aim of achieving end-to-end automation.
• Increased efficiency in email processing: AI-based intent recognition and the automated generation of response modules are designed to efficiently reduce the workload for administrators.
• Real-time translation of speech and documents: This solution supports on-site customer meetings and the translation of documents, enabling the processing of foreign-language documents.

The technical implementation took place in a hybrid cloud setup with multiple cloud providers, which uses the most suitable cloud services in sovereign models from STACKIT and the hyperscaler Google, depending on the application. Following a successful pilot phase, the developed solutions have already been selectively transferred to regular operation.

Within a few months, the first GenAI use cases were developed and the first cases were already integrated into the business processes of AOK Niedersachsen. Shortly after the launch, the health insurance company was already processing tens of thousands of business transactions per month with new GenAI solutions. As part of the automation of input management, a dark processing rate of more than 90 percent was achieved.

Cloud technology was a key enabler for GenAI solutions. AOK Niedersachsen and adesso have demonstrated that social and health data can be processed in public clouds. The Digital Act (DigiG) and the newly inserted Section 393 of the German Social Code (SGB V) provide clear guidelines for this. Within this framework, cloud providers enable the use of state-of-the-art technologies such as confidential computing and external key management, as well as industry-specific contractual solutions such as supplementary agreements for regulatory-compliant cloud and GenAI solutions.