Private medical insurer WPA Group has started to roll out a new app that allows policyholders to get their healthcare referrals authorised within minutes.
The Precision App, which takes between two to three minutes from launch to authorisation, takes the individual through a few simple screens (see below) with minimum underwriting involved, to authorisation from WPA for the individual to see the recommended consultant or medical specialist.
According to Mark Southern, commercial director for WPA, the app has been designed to "allow people to start their treatment as soon as possible".
Mr Southern said: "Prior to the underlying operating system being implemented across the business, pre-authorisation figures were at approximately 85 per cent. Now we authorise 98.6 per cent of those who come to us after having been referred to a specialist by their GPs.
"We want them to get on that treatment path as quickly as possible, and to give customers more control."
It is currently being rolled out with a couple of large corporate customers of WPA, and there will be a period of feedback and testing before it is rolled out more widely.
He said: "We would love to have the Precision App rolled out to all our customers by the end of the year and, once we have the feedback and can make any refinements necessary, we have a list of other features we would like to start building into the app to give customers something more.
"We have lots of exciting ideas and are already doing work on these, but we do not want to go in too hard and too soon: we want to make sure the app works first time for all users, so that our customers get to use the insurance they have paid for."
He said the app takes approximately two to three minutes for individuals to use, compared with seven minutes for customers who prefer to call, but stressed the app was an "enhancement, not a replacement" for the human element.
"We appreciate some people might prefer to speak with a specialist and we are 100 per cent committed to making sure that people are available to talk to those customers who like to call", said Charlie MacEwan, corporate communications director for WPA.
Dave Miller, executive general manager for financial technology business Iress, which owns the protection comparison quote and transaction portal The Exchange, said on 11 June that 2018 has been a "record-breaking" year already for protection take-up.
He ascribed this to the growth of innovation and technological developments that has helped to get more people engaged with the protection journey.
He said: "There are positive steps taken by providers in the market to make products more innovative, and introducing initiatives that are engaging more people with the benefits of protection."
Last year, Julian Stainton, chief executive of the PMI insurer, said although automation and the use of artificial intelligence (AI) could drastically cut down the waiting time when making a claim, too few companies are embracing this technological trend.
Referring to the blinkered mentality of some large insurers as "moles", he claimed insurance companies had spent too long maximising their profits and avoiding deploying automation to enhance the customer experience.
simoney.kyriakou@ft.com
