Bupa has broken the mark of three million customers across its UK private medical insurance (PMI) and dental insurance business for the first time.
The insurer said this year was set to be one of its best ever for growth with the main driving force coming from the employer market.
And Bupa Insurance CEO Alex Perry laid down the gauntlet to hospitals and consultants on three key changes which by working together could “radically” improve the journey for private healthcare patients.
Speaking at the LaingBuisson Private Acute Healthcare conference, Perry acknowledged there were some challenges for hospital operators, but highlighted that along with the strong growth in self-paying customers the number of insured people was also increasing.
“I can tell you from our experience that PMI subscriber volumes are also growing strongly – which is one of the keys to the long-term health of this market,” Perry said.
“Bupa’s UK insurance business has just passed three million customers for the first time in our history in our PMI and dental businesses and we’re on course for one of our best ever years of growth on record.
“This is being driven mostly by the business market where employers who have had to focus on the health of their people throughout the pandemic increasingly appreciate how fast access to great care for their people supports the health of their business.”
Primary and virtual care focus
Perry noted there had been big shifts in the sector and in propositions as a result of the Covid pandemic and that it was easy to understate what a big shift that had been.
“Our offer has gone from being focused very heavily on secondary and tertiary care to expand much more into primary care and virtual care,” he continued.
“To meet that demand we’ve had to innovate, we’ve invested heavily in our virtual GP offering and we’re now seeing an average of 10,000 appointments every week.”
The insurer added that direct pathways without having to first see a GP, for example for potential cancer symptoms, musculoskeletal and mental health issues were increasingly popular.
In 2021 50,000 people used these routes, but Perry noted that figure was growing quickly.
Three steps to ‘radically’ improve experience
Perry added that entering a period of economic challenge and political uncertainty over the next few years meant there was no room for complacency in the sector and appealed to hospitals and consultants to work together with insurers to improve patient experiences.
He set out three items to make a step change and deliver the sort of experience customers have come to expect and which other sectors already deliver.
“For example, simplifying access to care through digital appointment booking sounds very basic but it’s still very rare in this sector,” Perry said.
“Or creating seamless care pathways by exchanging medical notes and test results between insurers, consultants and hospitals without the customer having to find their way around a byzantine system and having to do all the leg work themselves.
“Or taking the hassle out of claiming through hospitals and consultants sharing referral and treatment information to help pre-authorisation of treatment on behalf of customers – it cuts out more work for the customer.
“These three changes alone would radically deliver a better experience for those who are using the independent healthcare system.
“Delivering them can only be done as a team effort across insurers and providers – both hospitals and consultants,” he added.