Authors:
Sebastian Wittor, Project Manager
Julia Schliesch, Marketing Generalist at BAYOOMED
Travel expenses covered by health insurance are an integral part of health care. They enable insured individuals to access necessary medical services even when they are unable to travel to the treatment location on their own for health reasons—whether for dialysis, outpatient surgery, radiation or chemotherapy, or emergency transport by ambulance. Every year, millions of trips are organized and billed for insured individuals: in 2023, there were over 55 million transportation services[1], which amounts to roughly 150,000 trips per day. Statutory health insurance spent approximately 9.6 billion euros[2] on this in 2024—nearly twice as much as just five years earlier.
However, as the number of trips increases, so does the challenge for health insurance companies: How can they identify billing errors, unnecessary costs, or fraudulent patterns without having to manually review every single transaction?
This is precisely where the use of artificial intelligence opens up new possibilities. Modern data analytics help identify anomalies early on, manage audit processes more effectively, and reduce costs in the long term.
Why Transportation Costs Are Particularly Challenging for Health Insurance Companies
The review of travel expenses by health insurance companies is significantly more complex than it appears at first glance. Unlike many other benefits, travel expenses cannot be assessed in isolation; rather, they must always be considered in the context of the underlying medical care and the patient’s circumstances.
In addition, various factors make it difficult to assess individual cases:
In practice, this means that even minor anomalies are often difficult to detect. At the same time, seemingly minor deviations can quickly add up to significant costs over thousands of trips.
Where Unnecessary Costs Arise
Not every anomaly automatically indicates fraud. Often, unnecessary expenses result simply from incorrect allocations or suboptimal care processes.
Typical examples include:
Incorrect Cost Centers
Transportation costs are billed to the health insurance provider, even though another payer would actually be responsible—for example, the pension insurance provider for certain rehabilitation measures or a hospital for transfers.
Excessive or Unnecessary Services
The mode of transportation billed does not always correspond to the actual need. For example, an ambulance ride may be billed even though a taxi ride would have been sufficient.
Fraud and Systematic Billing Errors
In addition, there are cases in which services are intentionally billed incorrectly. These include, among others:
Precisely because individual discrepancies often involve only small amounts, they frequently go undetected for a long time. Taken together, however, they can result in significant financial losses.
Why Traditional Testing Methods Are Reaching Their Limits
Manually reviewing travel expense reports is time-consuming and resource-intensive. With tens of thousands of transactions per day, it is hardly economically feasible to examine every single case in detail.
In addition, much of the relevant information is scattered across various data sources. Prescriptions, insurance data, diagnoses, medical devices, medications, care levels, and travel data must first be consolidated and evaluated.
It is precisely at this point that traditional testing methods often reach their limits.
How AI Supports Health Insurance Companies
Artificial intelligence does not replace case workers. Rather, it helps them filter out, from large amounts of data, precisely those cases that warrant a more in-depth review.
Document and Free-Text Analysis
Important information is contained in the regulation in free-text fields. AI systems can automatically extract this content, interpret its context, and make it available for further analysis.
Big Data Analytics
By comparing large amounts of data, statistical outliers can be identified. This reveals notable trends in costs, unusual trip volumes, or discrepancies between different ride-hailing providers.
Pattern Recognition
By linking policyholder data, diagnoses, care levels, travel information, and other characteristics, it is possible to identify typical patterns that indicate incorrect or unusual billing.
Smart Prioritization
Scoring models evaluate anomalies based on priority level, probability, and economic relevance. This allows case workers to focus specifically on cases that require intervention and take action before these trips take place.
More Than Just Fraud Detection: Prevention and Cost Control
The greatest added value often lies not in recovering amounts already paid, but in preventing future costs through a deterrent effect.
For example, intelligent analyses can:
AI thus not only helps identify billing errors but also enables more efficient management of care.
Potential savings in the seven-figure range
Experience from ongoing projects demonstrates the potential of data-driven analytics. By combining big data analytics, AI-powered pattern recognition, and intelligent testing processes, we have already achieved annual cost savings in the high seven-figure range.
Instead of manually reviewing every single trip, AI helps prioritize anomalies in a targeted manner and allocate available resources where the greatest economic benefit is expected.
Conclusion
Artificial intelligence opens up new opportunities for health insurance companies to analyze and manage complex travel expense reports more efficiently.
The real added value here lies not only in identifying individual billing errors or cases of fraud. Far more important is the ability to intelligently analyze large amounts of data, identify cost-saving opportunities early on, and optimize utility processes in a sustainable manner.
Especially against the backdrop of rising healthcare costs, the intelligent use of data is becoming a crucial factor in cost-effectiveness and efficiency.
[1] Source: https://www.aok.de/pp/gg/daten-und-analysen/fahrkosten-rettungsdienste/
[2] Source: https://www.kbv.de/infothek/zahlen-und-fakten/gesundheitsdaten/krankentransport-ausgaben-faelle
More on the Topic of Digital Transformation in Health Insurance Companies
AI-powered analysis of travel costs is just one example of how digital technologies can help health insurance companies streamline processes and improve the quality of care.
Learn more about how BAYOOMED helps health insurance companies with the develop digital solutions —from AI applications and digital services to modern care platforms.