The Covid-19 lockdown has contributed to the boom in the use of digital GP healthcare solutions. Health app Unum saw this trend emerge before lockdown, which is why they invested, in partnership with Square Health, in their Help@hand app, which launched last year. Demand for these services has soared over the past few months, says Unum.
The rising demand for online medical support echoes the feedback that Insurance Edge got from Matthew Reed at Equipsme, which successfully raised more investment on the Crowdcube platform last week.
Access to Help@hand has now reached 165,000 employees – with partners and children also able to access in addition to this number – meaning it is reaching even more people at a time where services such as these are needed more than before. During the Covid-19 pandemic the Help@hand services are proving to be more relevant than ever with downloads of the app increasing by 88% for the period April – June 2020 (versus November 2019 – March 2020). During the same period, 2,227 consultations were booked – a huge 400% increase (versus November 2019 – March 2020).
Help@hand is a unique service within the Group Risk market and offers employees access to 5 valuable services through one easy-to-use app. Since launching last year, almost 3,000 appointments have been booked via Help@hand – and around 60% were for the remote GP service.
Help@hand GPs aim to speak to customers within 2 hours of an appointment being requested through the app, 365 days per year. They can arrange delivery of private prescriptions and medication (for an additional fee) directly to the customer, offer advice on medical concerns and organise referrals.
Digital healthcare services such as Help@hand play an important role in providing quick access to necessary support, and Unum sees this trend growing as the UK healthcare landscape continues to evolve.
Commenting on the demand for Help@hand services is Peter O’Donnell, CEO of Unum UK:
“I’m absolutely delighted that Help@hand is going from strength to strength, demand is continuing to grow and that so many people are using the services. 165,000 employees covered is a phenomenal number, and we’re fully expecting this number to keep rising as the weeks go on. Our priority remains to provide quality services that are relevant, easy to access, and offer vital support to employees and their families when needed.
We’re continuing to listen to our customers and are using that feedback to shape our future development plans – aspiring towards a fully integrated and holistic proposition that provides valuable services to employees and supports the workforce needs of employers.
As we assess the impact of Covid-19 for healthcare, we are absolutely committed to continuing to innovate, evolve and enhance Help@hand to ensure we remain agile and responsive to the changing needs of our customers and the market.”
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