Aviva is the latest insurer to roll out a virtual health service following a partnership with Babylon, a UK-based mobile health company.
The deal will see the introduction of the babylon app, to some of Aviva's UK customers starting with key corporate healthcare clients. Through Babylon, customers will have quick and convenient access to family GPs, specialist consultants, and state of the art health monitoring and treatment, Aviva said.
David McMillan, chairman global health insurance and chief executive officer, Europe at Aviva, says: "We see huge potential for this innovation to improve our customers' access to primary health care and ultimately their overall health."
Through Babylon, customers will be able to book video or phone consultations with GPs and clinicians, without the need to visit a surgery.
Appointments can be booked in seconds and customers have access to doctors 12 hours a day, six days a week, and can also ask any health related questions via text.
Prescriptions can be posted or collected from a local pharmacy. If symptoms need further investigation, Babylon provides instant referrals to specialists and diagnostic tests as and when required, through a network of specialists across the UK.
The app also features a symptom checker that offers customers clear advice and a monitor function that checks health and fitness vitals to help customers monitor and improve their health.
Aviva said it has started work with some of its key large corporate health customers to offer the Babylon service to some of their UK employees. Following the initial trial, Aviva hopes to extend the offer of the babylon app to other corporate healthcare clients.
Babylon is the first organisation of its kind to be registered with the independent healthcare regulator The Care Quality Commission (CQC) and has designated body status from NHS England. All GPs who work with babylon are GMC registered and have at least five years' recent postgraduate experience.
Aviva is the latest insurer to have introduced a virtual service for customers. Last December Health Shield launched a virtual GP surgery and VitalityHealth launched an online GP and prescription service in November last year.
