The member benefits app, HealthWise, has seen a 131 per cent increase in usage in 2023.
UK protection and health insurer, The Exeter, said this surge in engagement “highlights” the increasing importance of value-added service offerings within protection and health insurance products.
The Exeter chief executive officer, Isobel Langton, said: “The inclusion of added value services as part of health and protection policies is playing an increasingly important role in helping policyholders manage their day-to-day health and wellbeing.
“This is evidenced by the increase in demand we are seeing for the services we provide through our HealthWise member benefits app.
“While remote GP appointments continue to be the most in-demand service, we have seen a positive increase in usage across all services provided which include mental health support and second medical opinions.”
A gendered disparity in the app’s use was discovered with some services being more popular among one gender.
As an example, The Exeter pointed to nutrition & lifestyle, and dietician services, which were used mainly by women, making up 70 per cent and 58 per cent of users, respectively, for these services.
This was in contrast to the users of physiotherapy services, 60 per cent of whom were men.
The convenience offered by added value services such as HealthWise is “evident” by the high proportion of support provided remotely.
Members in 2023 accessed 91 per cent of nutrition and lifestyle sessions and 89 per cent of dietitian consultations remotely.
The service also continued to drive high levels of satisfaction among users, as members rated the services provided, 4.7 out of 5 stars across the year.
The Exeter also revealed “strong engagement” with its mental health support, with over half of mental health support provided to members in 2023 being for for stress, anxiety, depression, or low mood.
Usage of mental health services was again evenly split between genders, with those aged between 31-and-40-years old accounting for 30 per cent of overall usage.
Encouragingly, 89 per cent of mental health support was accessed by repeat users, highlighting a string engagement with ongoing treatment.
Langton added that, despite the “strong engagement”, The Exeter are committed to further embracing the support it offers.
“We hope the recent introduction of health MOT’s and unlimited remote GP appointments will continue to provide our members with greater peace of mind and further increase usage in 2024,” she concluded.
tom.dunstan@ft.com
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