Kotze at Discovery points out that technologies such as AI, data analytics and gamification enable insurers to enhance the value to the customer of the digital healthcare solutions they deliver and also improve the performance and effectiveness of providers’ business models.
“We’ve learned that by collecting data from our digital healthcare solutions and then using AI and large language models to present it to clients in a very simplified and gamified manner we can drive engagement. And then we can use the outcome of those engagements to further refine our processes.”
“People don’t sign up for health insurance to become healthier. They take out health insurance to get their claims paid. They go to the doctor if they want to be healthier.” – Deon Kotze, Discovery Group.
Discovery pioneered the combination of healthcare solutions and behavioral incentives to promote the health and wellness of its clients with the launch of its Vitality program in 1997. It introduced its first digital healthcare solution in 2014 and has continued to expand and enhance these offerings, while accumulating vast volumes of supporting data, to further encourage its clients to lead healthier lifestyles.
Discovery’s Personal Health Pathways initiative, currently being piloted among the firm’s employees, combines remote monitoring, data analytics and AI to provide users with personalized digital health solution that incentivizes engagement, recommends actions, dynamically assesses risk and continuously updates health and wellness data.
“It’s one thing to construct data sets and something altogether different to present information to people in such a way that prompts them to react to the recommendations we give them. That’s why digital healthcare is becoming so important. We can now understand how clients respond and send them very precise and personalized messages to encourage them to improve or maintain their health.”
Kotze adds that insurers need to collaborate closely with partners across the value chain to ensure the effectiveness of their digital healthcare solutions.
“People don’t sign up for health insurance to become healthier. They take out health insurance to get their claims paid. They go to the doctor if they want to be healthier. So, our partnership with doctors is really important. Just as we’ve built a platform where our clients can engage with us and so we’ve also built a platform for doctors. They can see the actions we’ve recommended to their patients and note how the patients are actually responding. If we can work closely with healthcare providers, we have a better chance of improving people’s health.”
Kotze says Discovery is further refining its digital healthcare solution and is especially focusing on how to encourage unmotivated clients to take actions that will improve their health and wellbeing.
“Funders must accept their role in developing sustainable healthcare systems and work with healthcare providers to create and enable healthcare ecosystems that are as focused on preventative care as on acute and chronic care.”
