By Counterforce Health Team —

Counterforce Health Receives Major Grant from PennAITech: Empowering the Future of Health with AI

Counterforce Health Receives Major Grant from PennAITech: Empowering the Future of Health with AI
Photo by Conny Schneider / Unsplash

We are incredibly proud to announce a monumental achievement for our company and our mission: Counterforce Health has been awarded a significant grant from the Penn Artificial Intelligence and Technology Collaboratory for Healthy Aging (PennAITech), which is part of a larger initiative funded by the National Institute on Aging (NIA). This funding is a pivotal moment for our team and our mission to create a fairer, more transparent healthcare system for everyone. The grant, part of PennAITech's new $2.47 million investment in innovative AI solutions, will directly support our project, "CounterforceAI: AI-Powered Health Insurance Appeals Generator", a tool aimed at helping patients, particularly older adults, navigate and overturn health insurance denials. This generous award is a powerful validation of our belief that AI can and should be used to empower patients, not just corporate interests. We are deeply grateful to PennAITech and the University of Pennsylvania for this opportunity and for their dedication to improving the lives of older adults and their caregivers.

A Deeper Look into the Problem and Our Solution

The health insurance system can be incredibly difficult to navigate, with an estimated 850 million claims denied annually in the US. The process is often opaque, complex, and intentionally confusing. Many of these denials are a result of complex and often automated systems, creating a significant power imbalance. This is especially true for older adults, who may not have the resources or technical savvy to fight back. As a result, less than 1% of all denied claims are ever appealed, even though studies show that a large percentage of those that are appealed are ultimately approved.

We created Counterforce Health to address this fundamental problem head-on. Our platform uses advanced AI to level the playing field. Users simply upload their denial letter and other relevant documents, and our system analyzes them against a vast database of medical literature, insurance policy language, and successful appeal strategies. In a matter of minutes, it generates a comprehensive, professionally drafted, and evidence based appeal letter that's ready to send. This automates a process that can take hours for a person to do manually, empowering individuals and clinics to fight back more effectively.

A Future Powered by Patient Advocacy

This funding from PennAITech will allow us to expand our capabilities and reach. We'll be able to serve more patients and clinics, refine our technology, and continue to fight back against a system that relies on confusion and complexity to deny care. We're honored to be part of PennAITech's cohort of innovative projects and look forward to collaborating with other leaders in the field to create a future where no one has to choose between their health and their financial well-being.

A Collaborative Effort

We want to extend our sincere gratitude to everyone who helped make this project possible. We are particularly grateful to Duke University, and our Principal Investigator, Dr. Kathryn Pollak. With her extensive research into clinician-patient communication and health disparities is invaluable to this project. Her expertise and leadership ensure that our technology is not only powerful but also grounded in a deep understanding of the real-world challenges faced by patients and caregivers.