Insurtech was once a category of fintech. In the discussion of fintech's future development field at the 2015 WEF World Economic Forum, insurtech eventually became an important topic and was then widely discussed. Let's discuss how the mix of technology and insurance can bring an uplifting effect of employee wellbeing in the workplace.

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What is insurtech?

As the name of “insurtech” implies, insurtech demonstrates how insurance services and emerging technologies are combined, so that insurance companies can improve processes and operational efficiency, develop more diversified products, reach unknown emerging markets, and provide customers with better insurance services and experience.

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Artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, blockchain and automations are a few examples of technologies that are shaping the insurance sector.‍

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Workplace wellbeing in Hong Kong

‍According to a 2020 survey which aimed to understand the physical and mental health, stress handling habits and workplace environment of employees, 87% of the respondents face moderate or above stress, and 52% of the respondents suffer from mild or above anxiety. The main stressors include:

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1. Personal health
2. Worries about income
3. Persistent epidemic situation

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The survey found that 46% of enterprises did not provide employer support, while the stress and anxiety levels of respondents with support from enterprises were lower. It is not surprising that employees could suffer from the undesirable effects associated with mental illnesses, just to name a few:

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• Emotional distress
• Insomnia
• Drug or alcohol abuse
• Anxiety and depression
• Self-mutilation or suicidal tendency

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With work-related stress being the second-largest source of stress as of June 2020, which accounts for 25%, it is high time employers seek more efficient ways to safeguard their employees’ mental health.‍

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Mental health: Insurtech in action  

An increased preference for virtual health during the COVID-19 period such as general health support (56%) has been observed in a study. Some insurers in the market have long begun offering wearables to track your physical health, while StartupCare's virtual health assistant offers convenience for you to make a quick symptom check from your couch. What are the other emerging trends in insurtech that tackles mental health?‍

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1. Wellness services that focuses on prevention

COVID-19 has pushed insurers to accelerate their advancement in wellness services based on the data we’ve seen above. Wellness programs are seen as a requirement for insurers to stay relevant and engage with their members. This area is often what insurtechs are better at in terms of acceleration because of their agility to pivot quickly in new territories.

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Looking ahead of “wellness” in the broader sense of pure encouragement for the mass audience to stay active and adopt a healthy lifestyle - we’re shifting towards the digital therapeutics space, that aims at a range of specific conditions from mental health to diabetes.

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“Technology gives us better ability to objectively quantify and understand how people are doing and personalise the type of therapy for the individual.”  Dr. Bechara Saab from Mobio Interactive

StartupCare partners with Mobio Interactive, a digital therapeutics company to offer Am mindfulness app for the insured members of our group medical insurance plan. It supports the practice of mindfulness, helps improve focus and develops better mental resilience. Through the objectively quantified stress measurement function, enabled by its proprietary AI and computer vision technology, suitable mindfulness training is recommended for users. As a user, you can easily detect stress levels from your mobile device and become aware of any intervention needs in the early stage.  

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2. Emotional health data application in insurance

Physical health and healthcare consumption data are well captured by insurers, yet emotional health data remains as the blindspot for them.

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Why is emotional health data important? There’s a strong correlation between physical and mental health, and this new data source can be factored into risk calculations in the underwriting process, or even to be used for continuous and underwriting and pricing (premium fluctuates dynamically based on real-time data).‍‍‍

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How can employers benefit from the insurtech development in mental health?

When employers are selecting group medical insurance for their teams, consider the following benefits that augmented mental health platform could bring:

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• Better control of renewal premiums due to reduced claims to doctor visits
  ‍Employees with overall better health brings down the claim ratio that largely affects your renewal premium of insurance plan

• Reduce costs in loss productivity
  ‍Price of mental ill health costs up to HK$ 12.4 billion for employers in Hong Kong, which includes costs of absenteeism, presenteeism and turnover.
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• Inject more positive vibes to your workplace
  Keeping a positive mind is essential for anyone working in a small business!

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blüüm's mission is to incentivise physical and mental wellbeing of everyone to enjoy their every stage of their lives. Holistic health is at the core of our philosophy, which we believe is what makes people thrive.