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The recent Qorus Accenture Innovation in Insurance Awards recognized the world’s leading innovators in the insurance industry. The winners in each category stood up to tough competition with initiatives that were not only innovative, but effective and with measurable impact. In this series of blogs, I will go into detail about each category and show how each winner is at the forefront of innovation. Before we get started, you may notice a change: Efma recently changed its name to Qorus to reflect its global footprint in the financial services industry and increase community visibility.
It is important to link any discussion about innovation to the forces currently driving the insurance landscape. New emerging risks and a changing risk landscape present new risks (environmental, climate change) and opportunities (cyber technologies, new digital economy, new infrastructure) for insurers. The convergence of industries and emerging ecosystems is driving product innovation, new distribution systems and players. Together, these elements contribute to expanding the value proposition of insurers, from reactive risk recovery to proactive and ongoing risk prevention and mitigation. In addition, the new business environment we are in, which includes higher inflation and potential recession, will require innovation to achieve efficiency/bottom line goals for the benefit of both insurers and policyholders (the case of Discovery is a good illustration). .
In addition, we have witnessed healthcare becoming a central trend. Accenture Insurance Revenue Survey 2025: Innovation for Sustainability offers huge revenue opportunities for insurers from products and services for health, wellness and life.
In a recent survey, Redefining Health: Global Study Sheds New Light on Opportunities for Insurers, RGA, a life and health reinsurer, found that a vast majority of 85% of insurers identified health as a “priority” and an integral part of their lives. solutions are being developed to meet customer needs, with almost 3/5 of respondents including health in their product offerings, including insurance-related programs, technologies and tools.
Connected Ecosystems and Marketplaces – AIA (Thailand)
This insurance shift towards well-being is evident in our Connected Ecosystems & Markets 2022 category, which celebrates innovative practices leading to new business models, scalable end-to-end value propositions based on partnerships, platforms and the Internet of Things. . The category winner, AIA (Thailand), received the award for its ALive mobile app. This ecosystem of health and wellness offerings aims to put the community at the forefront, supporting young families and helping them lead healthier, longer and better lives.
Prashant Agarwal, Head of Digital Marketing at AIA Group, says: “Life and health are two areas in which the insurer’s commercial goals are fully aligned with the consumer’s personal goals. The healthier you are and the longer you live, the better the insurer works. Thus, wellness is the result that customers strive for, but it is also simply the best business. We embrace shared values as a fundamental principle of our work, going far beyond being a transactional insurance payer and being a life and health partner with our clients. This creates a triple benefit for the client, the AIA and the community, while easing the burden of the public health crisis on governments.”
Product and Service Innovation – Discovery Health
In the Product and Service Innovation category, this year’s winner Discovery, a life and health insurance company based in South Africa, demonstrated the power of customer-centric innovation with Discovery Hospital at Home innovation. The product provides an alternative treatment for a range of medical and postoperative conditions that would otherwise require hospitalization.
Dr. Boto Mhozia, Head of Medical Risk and Home Hospitals, Discovery Health, says: “The COVID-19 pandemic worldwide has accelerated the adoption of digital health technologies by patients and healthcare providers, and has fueled the rise of virtual/in-home healthcare. technologies. care delivery. Accenture’s 2020 Digital Health Consumer Survey found that patients were seeking virtual care during the pandemic, and most felt that virtual care was as good or better than face-to-face care. Approximately 60% of these patients would like to use technology and virtual care in the future. At Discovery, the exponential growth in telemedicine use is indicative of greater digital health adoption, with Discovery Connected Care logins up 763% since 2019. Overburdened health systems emphasize that the patient’s home is an important and appropriate place for providing medical care. This has provided a unique opportunity for technology to deliver safe, effective and convenient hospital-level clinical care in the home.”
Discovery Health opened the Discovery Home Hospital to provide alternative care for members diagnosed with COVID-19. In 2021, more than 100 members of the Discovery Health medical scheme successfully treated COVID-19 at home, all with the same or improved levels of clinical outcomes and a better patient experience. In January 2022, the eligibility criteria for the program were expanded to include all clinically significant medical and postoperative conditions that would otherwise require hospitalization for departmental care. The program has been further expanded to ensure national availability of the service, and capacity has been increased to accommodate up to 750 patients at any given time. This makes it the largest provider of home hospitals in South Africa.
Mhozya adds: “The pandemic has also shown us that controlled behavior affects the outcomes of not only noncommunicable diseases, but also infectious diseases, with global studies showing that more than 50% of deaths associated with COVID-19 are associated with people with three or more comorbid conditions. diseases. illness. Thus, business models that help make people healthier while lowering the cost of insurance can make a significant contribution to society by building resilience to both noncommunicable and communicable diseases and helping individuals and health systems weather major shocks. The growing availability and adoption of digital health tools is also enabling insurers to collect more data and offer more targeted health interventions than ever before.”
Customers’ need for seamless remote interaction extends beyond healthcare. A combination of demographic and socio-cultural changes, as well as expanding technological capabilities, are prompting insurers to upgrade their insurance solutions to more transparent, personalized, seamless and multi-channel products and services across the board. For example, the use of intelligent technologies is changing the approach to insured events. And it’s not just for the benefit of younger, digitally savvy clients. As reported in Accenture Insurance’s latest global consumer survey, older consumers are increasingly opting for digital claims, with 71% saying they would like an online chat/video insurance claim process to replace the traditional in-office claim process.
Customer Service Experience – Allianz Partners
This shift is evident in Allianz Partners’ 2022 Reimagining Customer Experience winner Visi Home. José Antonio Molleda, Global Head of Home Product Management and Innovation at Allianz Partners, says: “The pandemic has put pressure on homes as they have been transformed into a school, office, daycare and everything in between. In this context, unforeseen everyday problems can be especially stressful: power outages, gas outages, heating outages, etc. At Allianz Partners, we act as guardian angels, protecting what really matters by integrating intuitive digital solutions and human touch. for a truly exceptional experience. at key moments in our clients’ lives. Based on this spirit, we have created a product that connects customers with a professional claims handler through remote home assistance at any time, providing immediate problem diagnosis and professional advice on how to resolve it on the spot, whenever possible, or by making an appointment directly. . with the right master. “.
Visi´Home was launched in July 2021 with promising results in the first three months. He adds: “First call decision rates increased by 18% and problem resolution times were significantly reduced, resulting in an improvement in the overall customer experience. Clients value convenience above all else, right behind the promptness and empathy of our Claims team. By solving the problem on the spot with remote assistance and without the intervention of a wizard, customers can get it all. Last but not least, Visi´Home allows a significant reduction in CO2 emissions of 15% due to the absence of intervention, which was also positively received by our customers.”
As these three Insurance Innovation winners show, customer focus and the strategic use of technology can open up new channels of value creation. Stay tuned for the next article in this series, where I will talk about leaders in other categories.
See the full list of new Qorus Accenture insurance products for 2022.
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STANDARD DISCLAIMER:
Disclaimer: This content is provided for general informational purposes and is not intended to be used as a substitute for consultation with our professional advisors.
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