The range of digital health services is continuously expanding. For example, patients can now check their symptoms using the Ada health app and book doctor's appointments online via the Doctolib portal, while tinnitus patients can also be offered support through Kalmeda's mobile service. In addition, new "apps on prescription", also known as digital health apps (DiGA), have been steadily appearing since late 2020. As of July 2022, 31 DiGAs are listed by the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices (BfArM) in Germany.
A bundled and integrative service portfolio, however, remains hard to find here. Insurers do offer some apps and services, but they are not consistently interlinked. Moreover, with the exception of digital invoicing tools, these offerings are not gaining much traction, as indicated by their low user numbers. We have found that in most cases these digital services require separate login processes and offer a flawed user experience – and often, insufficient added value overall. It is therefore understandable that customers are not taking the time to get to grips with these tools in the long term. As a result, the respective insurance companies are struggling to embed these services within the long-term usage habits of their customers – or even to find new customers in the private health insurance segment.
Therefore, it is worth taking a look at the Health ecosystem as a whole: Which solutions are in focus, which solutions need to be offered and which ones can add value in a complementary way?
"Well", based in Switzerland, is currently working on such an offering. As an independent platform, the company aims to bring together healthcare stakeholders and provide patients with the ability to easily organize health-related services. In a functioning Health ecosystem, patients feel that their needs are being met – and so feel at ease. Insurers also have an opportunity to reduce benefit payments through prevention as well as selection, and to increase revenues through both cross- and up-selling.
We have taken a close look at the digital services offered by private health insurance providers. We would be happy to discuss our findings with you.
