Digital Health

With the Tech Trend Radar 2018 jointly published by Munich Re and ERGO, we will feature ERGO projects under the megatrends we identified. In this third article, we will talk about digital health services and the recent launched electronic health records by DKV together with IBM.

Digital Health Services

Advanced technology allows the monitoring of health indicators; it also provides detailed analysis and make initial diagnoses. Modern technologies and digital services are not only changing the way we communicate, they also offer us more innovative ways of monitoring health and well-being. Digital platforms will increasingly develop into agencies for a first health consultation before actually seeing a physical doctor. These digital health managers might restructure the entire health and insurance infrastructure.

Electronic health records

To be a forerunner in this digital progress, the private health insurers DKV, Central and SIGNAL IDUNA will start offering their policyholders electronic health records (EHR) based on the EHR solution developed by IBM Germany. EHR provides a secure, lifelong record of the policyholder’s health data and documents. For individual applications, such as emergency medical information, the data can also be securely stored in encrypted form on the individual’s mobile device (offline capability). The service also includes immunisation recommendations based on digital immunisation data and provides check-up recommendations, management options for digital emergency information and the analysis of medication schedules. A digital search function for physicians, online appointments features, digital anamnesis sheets. A range of services to facilitate digital communications between doctors and patients are to be added at a later point.

The analysis of the data enables personalised therapies and can thereby reduce follow-up treatment costs. Other advantages of this technology are improving the health insurance underwriting, speeding up claims handling or adjusting insurance premiums to reflect the altered risk situations.

If you are interested in more details of the new health platform and the digital offers of DKV, see the following links below:

Press Release: Electronic health records to be rolled out in private health insurance

If you want to know more about the megatrends of the Tech Trend Radar and the technologies behind them, we invite you to read our first two blog articles:

The connected world: How smart home and auto-mobility are transforming insurance industry

Artificial Intelligence: How smart bots and self-learning mechanisms will shape the customer relationship in the insurance industry