AIG Life renews Teladoc contract for award-winning Smart Health
LONDON – Wednesday 26th January 2022 – UK life insurer AIG Life Limited has renewed its contract with global telehealth provider Teladoc Health to deliver Smart Health by AIG for a further four years.
The mid-term renewal resulted from growing demand from employers, who realise employees need help to manage their wellbeing, and individual customer engagement which has doubled year on year.
Commenting on the agreement, Phil Willcock, Chief Executive Officer at AIG Life, said: “I’m really pleased that AIG Life has proactively renewed its contract with global telehealth provider Teladoc Health, and I hope it gives financial advisers and employee benefits consultants confidence that the suite of expert medical services they’re recommending to clients under the Smart Health brand will be there for the long-term.
“Teladoc has done an incredible job of providing round-the clock medical and wellbeing support to our customers and their families when they couldn’t access it locally. Smart Health has been an essential lifeline during the pandemic and the insight used to inform its design is as relevant today as it was two years ago."
Commenting on the contract, Carlos Nueno, President, International at Teladoc Health, said: “We are pleased to continue our innovative, long-term partnership with AIG Life. Through Smart Health, we are living our mission to empower people everywhere to live their healthiest lives by transforming the healthcare experience. It has been particularly rewarding to see the positive impact this award-winning platform has had on patients across the UK throughout the pandemic.”
Evolving protection insurance
The UK protection insurance market is evolving. In past years, a customer would typically put their insurance paperwork in a drawer and not speak to their insurer until they needed to submit a claim. But that has changed; customers expect more.
Data about insurers’ added services shows it’s becoming more common for customers to turn to virtual health services to manage their wellbeing, and that they want services to be seamlessly-integrated, which puts Smart Health at the forefront of value-added services.
The always-on Smart Health services that come as part of AIG’s protection insurance package change the attractiveness of protection insurance and lead to significantly more customer interactions, said Willcock.
“Today’s customers are more demanding and tech-savvy; they’re comfortable using their phone or digital device to manage their lives online 24/7, and they expect fast and high-quality support around the clock when they need it. They also need to feel that the protection products and services we provide are useful and worth paying for. Smart Health meets that demand and provides value from their insurance.”
He continued: “This extension of our partnership with Teladoc builds on what we see is a changed protection insurance model. Our role as a life insurer, which has evolved faster as a result of the pandemic, is to help today’s customers live better lives. We can do that emotionally and physically by offering preventative healthcare support through Teladoc’s global professional expertise, then be there in the future when they need to claim financially. Our experience over the last two years has also shown how the right interventions can help reduce life, critical illness and income protection claims.”
Smart Health take-up
AIG has seen accelerated interest in remote healthcare service Smart Health on the back of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2021, the service was used over 22,000 times1. It was most popular with members of employee benefit schemes and families who needed an immediate phone or video appointment with a UK-registered GP but couldn’t get help locally, as well as among young people who wanted help to manage their mental health, and individuals who proactively want to improve their long-term nutrition and fitness.
Smart Health usage in 2021 was double that of 2020 and filled a gap in healthcare support they may not have been able to get from their local surgery.
- One in three customers (33%) used Smart Health to speak to a GP out of hours
- More than one in six people (18%) book appointments at the weekend
- Children under five made up 8% of users, and
- 45% of people saw their diagnosis or treatment change after getting a second medical opinion from world-leading experts.