VitalityHealth Vitality GP service
VitalityHealth has launched a new Vitality GP service which it says transforms its capability to deliver class-leading primary care benefits that members can access quickly and easily. It offers and funds three choices of GP access for its customers. These are:
Face-to-face.
Video-call.
24-hour phone advice.
The service is delivered through an enhanced Vitality GP app, which is an evolution from the previous telemedicine solution and creates a full ‘clinic in your pocket’ experience.
Vitality says the proposition is integrated, which means its members don’t need to be passed back and forth between GP and insurer should they require further care following a GP consultation, they can be directly referred to onward care. In terms of the GPs themselves, all have a minimum of ten years’ experience.
The new app also provides members with access to other types of care and advice. Through the app, customers can also self-refer for priority physio services, directly access mental health support and source a range of trusted information and advice. The app is delivered by Square Health, a health-tech and healthcare provider and one of the UK’s largest telemedicine providers.
Vitality GP is positioned at the centre of Vitality’s private healthcare offering, enabling GPs to refer patients for minor diagnostic tests, prescribe medication and make referrals into consultant care without the need for an NHS referral. On the wellness side, Vitality GPs will continue to consult with patients regarding their lifestyle choices and the effect that these choices could have on their long-term health.
VitalityHealth says the launch is part of its core purpose to help make people healthier and to enhance and protect their lives. Vitality GP is the next evolution of its initial virtual GP service which launched in June 2015. Since then, almost 50,000 video consultations have been administered.
Vitality GP is available to VitalityHealth members as a core part of their benefit and is accessible through Android and iOS devices.
Comment: T
VitalityHealth says it doesn’t see itself as just a funder of care, but also as a trusted provider of advice for its members. It adds it wants to help them navigate the healthcare system and to ultimately achieve the best health outcome possible.
So, is this ‘a health concierge in your hands’? Short answer – yes.
Many people find the process of trying to access their NHS GP frustrating, slow and cumbersome. In many cases, a face-to-face visit (with all the associated time/place issues if you’re working) is not only not necessary, but the time delay and hassle can actually be counter-productive. The ‘Clinic in a Pocket’ app and platform offers a real and real time alternative that benefits not just customers but also their GP too, as it frees them up to focus on other priorities. It doesn’t replace the NHS GP, but it very effectively supplements them and offers choice and reassurance too.
Vitality would argue it’s a part of its wider remit to encourage its members to adopt better lifestyle choices too and to reap the rewards (financial and other) from that as well. Not everyone yet buys into that philosophy, but Vitality has been around long enough now to have accumulated some powerful data to support its view.
Above all, the app is part of a journey that aims to genuinely benefit customers – whether the incident becomes a PMI claim or not. We think that’s very positive and, taking a wider view, should help engender greater trust in an industry that genuinely (mostly!) deserves to be trusted more.
Plus points: Revised app that offers GP choices; Integrated service rather than bureaucratic; Supplements the customer’s NHS GP; Fits well with Vitality’s wider aims; Only experienced GPs used; No additional cost; Helps show protection insurers can offer good customer benefits and can be trusted to deliver.
Not so plus points: Adds some complexity to the proposition; Shouldn’t be seen as an NHS GP total replacement; Vitality tends to evolve its products – which some advisers may find makes keeping up to speed with changes harder.
Website: http://www.vitality.co.uk.
Rating (max 10): Innovation: 8.5. Overall: 9. Platinum
Tags: Other; VitalityHealth