CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD FULL PDF OF REPORT
From online health assessments to virtual GP and physiotherapy consultations, digital services are an increasingly popular way to access healthcare. By integrating these services to create digital pathways, insurers could boost their effectiveness and build healthier workforces.
Digital services have been available for several years but their popularity has rocketed over the last few. “The pandemic triggered a massive acceleration in the adoption of digital services,” says Lee Fitzgerald, senior employee benefits consultant at NFP. “Everyone wanted to use them and all the insurers introduced additional services to meet demand.”
Figures from an NHS report, Inclusive digital healthcare, show just how comfortable the public is with digital services now. NHS App registrations increased from two million in 2021 to 30 million in 2023 and around 10 million more people in the UK used NHS websites or digital applications in 2021 compared with 2020.
Digital power
And these services do more than meet consumer demand. Figures from Teladoc Health show they’re a powerful health intervention in the workplace. It found that 72 per cent of employees avoided taking time off work because they use its services to access medical advice and information.
Services also deliver improved health outcomes. More than three quarters (78 per cent) of Teladoc’s mental health service users shifted from medium to a low or non-clinical level of psychological distress after four sessions. Similarly, 82 per cent of users saw a reduction in pain following their first virtual physiotherapy session.
The effectiveness of these virtual services could also help to make medical insurance pricing more sustainable according to Fitzgerald. “Medical inflation has doubled over the last few years from 7-10 per cent to 15-20 per cent and we’re seeing increases of as much as 60 per cent on some schemes,” he says. “Greater focus on prevention and early intervention, which could be supported through digital services, could help to keep this under control.”
A further benefit of digital services is the amount of data they generate. Everything from an employee checking out prostate cancer symptoms to a surge in virtual physiotherapy sessions in a factory location is recorded and can be used to make workplace health campaigns more targeted.
Integration intensification
Impressive on their own, digital services can pack an even greater punch when they’re integrated to create digital pathways. “Joining up these services can really make them sing,” says Sarah Goodwin, head of strategy at Axa Health. “By linking a virtual GP appointment with online out-patient services, as an example, an employee gets a better experience and should be treated faster. This is of value to the employer too.”
As well as shorter treatment journeys, integrating services can bring preventative strategies alive. Completing an online health risk assessment can leave an employee perplexed about what the results mean and how they can change: providing them with relevant information, further questions and tests where needed can help them take the next steps.
Linking services together will drive efficiencies but adding in employee information can boost engagement by making it much more personal. “It’s all about matchmaking,” says Dr Suba M, medical director at Aviva. “Understanding an employee’s motivations, lifestyle and preferences can make digital services more powerful. The retail sector is brilliant at this. They have a huge amount of data on us and use it to deliver personalised services that drive sales.”
Engagement exercise
Engagement is the holy grail when it comes to making digital services more effective. The more an employee uses these services, the more data is generated and the more personalised they become.
Psychology plays a big part in driving usage according to Dr M. “Insurers need to consider what motivates people and the messaging they use,” she says. “The number of people happy to donate their organs increased significantly when donation switched from opt-in to opt-out.”
Nudges can work. As an example, Sharon Shier, head of product development at WPA, points to virtual physiotherapy sessions. “Where an employee is given exercises to do after their online consultation, the app will check in every day to see how they’re feeling,” she explains. “This interaction feels very personal and encourages the employee to do their exercises much more than with a face-to-face session.”
Gamification can also drive engagement. Scores, targets and competitions can motivate an employee to start a new health and wellbeing programme. Shier points to the NHS’s Couch to 5K running plan as an example. “This gives people a goal but breaks it down into smaller, achievable steps. Doing this makes it easier to drive long lasting behaviour change.”
Digital challenges
The benefits are clear but there are several obstacles to creating effective digital pathways. For Goodwin, there is a need to change the way the clinicians behind these services work. She explains: “The tools are there and integrating them is straightforward but because each clinician feels they have to act in a certain way, an employee can find themselves answering the same health questions again and again. It’s improving but we need to make sure they have the confidence to say the data they receive is robust.”
Integrating digital services may help to make them more personalised and engaging but, while the temptation may be to provide employees with all the relevant support and information, this could backfire. “It’s important not to overload employees,” Karl Bennett, wellbeing director at Perkbox Vivup, explains: “Any support needs to be delivered in small manageable chunks to enable people to make lifestyle changes. Too much information can be overwhelming.”
Shock of the new
Data confidentiality is another potential stumbling block. Although employees are increasingly looking to their employers for healthcare, many still baulk at the thought of disclosing certain lifestyle details. Bennett says organisations need to do more to persuade employees that they don’t see their data. “Employers need to be open about what they do receive – anonymised data reports where nobody can be identified – to create more trust.”
Organisations also need to consider that access to these services isn’t a given. The same NHS report that shows a huge uptick in usage, also points to a growing number of people who don’t have access
to digital services.
Around 7 per cent of households do not have home internet access and around one million have cancelled their broadband package in the last 12 months due to rising costs. While access may be higher across the employed cohort, Ed Watling, head of health and wellbeing at Mattioli Woods, says it is still important to consider individuals’ preferences. “Digital is really popular but insurers need to make sure they give people the access they want to their services,” he adds.
Future direction
There may be some obstacles to overcome but the potential for digital pathways to revolutionise workplace health is huge. AI will make it easier to personalise delivery as well as shortening employee pathways with rapid diagnostic tools such as mole checkers.
Additional data streams will also be added to enrich the employee experience. These could include smartwatch information or details from genetic testing to help people take steps to prevent diseases to which they’re predisposed.
And this brave new world isn’t far off. “Wes Streeting, Labour’s new health minister, is already talking about giving people smart watches to help them monitor their health,” says Watling. “It can feel a bit Big Brother but once people see a value from sharing their health information, the potential is massive.”