Virtual GP services have inevitably increased in popularity as lockdown stopped people from seeing their local doctor in person, while insurers have responded to this demand through increased product innovation.
But as more of us are jabbed, will virtual GP services maintain their current popularity and what improvements still need to be made to delivery of these services?
According to a spokesperson for Vitality, the insurer responded to the pandemic by doubling its capacity for virtual GP consultations as its round-the-clock advice line saw a “significant” increase in use from members at the outset of the pandemic.
The insurer added that it introduced new remote healthcare services including remote consultations with specialists, which were previously not covered, to support its members during the pandemic.
And partnerships with musculoskeletal and mental health providers were quickly adapted to allow people to access therapists remotely.
The firm also launched a new partnership with My Online Therapy to deliver remote mental health treatment.
Nuffield Health says it fast-tracked digital plans within days of the start of the pandemic to ensure patients received access to appointments and healthcare support virtually.
And Simplyhealth responded by adapting its health plans to provide customers with digitally-accessible support, including 24/7 video GP appointments, cover for routine prescription costs, video physiotherapy assessments and round-the-clock telephone advice and counselling services.
While increased product innovation is all well and good, it often means nothing without paternalistic employers who are prepared to invest in their employees’ wellbeing.
And Steve Ellis, head of employee benefit consulting at Prosperis, tells Health & Protection many of his clients have integrated virtual GP services into their day-to-day HR management practices.
“Such services used to be seen as a benefit associated with private medical insurance (PMI) and access was limited to those employees who were members of the scheme,” he says.
“In the last few months, we have seen group risk insurers include the virtual GP as part of their range of additional benefits, for example Unum and AIG making the benefit more generally available. This has allowed employers to offer the benefit across the whole workforce without incurring the expense of full PMI.
“This has been well received by employers with a high percentage of uninsured employees for PMI, who recognise the positive health benefits such services offer employees who may be struggling to get a GP appointment.”
According to Alan Lakey, director at Highclere Financial Services and CIExpert, insurers now cannot afford not to offer virtual GP services.
“The inability for people to see their own GPs has highlighted the need for these added services as well as second opinions and health MOTs,” he says.
“Many do not want to hang around in a GP’s waiting room even if they can easily make an appointment.”
Lakey adds the days of advisers “blindly” selecting the cheapest insurer are ending, with clued-up advisers taking into account other factors as newer insurers forge ahead with innovations.
Claire Ginnelly, managing director of Premier Choice Group, points out virtual GP services are more readily available with benefits now available within PMI, cash plan and risk products.
“The offering does not differ greatly between insurers with the main difference being who is providing the benefit,” she explains.
“However, most offer phone and video consultations; many can refer on to a consultant which is accepted by the insurer and some can give out private prescriptions – depending on the policy, this may also be covered.
“This benefit is now seen as an important part of a policy and not only gives the policyholders fast access to a GP but can also make the claim’s journey easier should the GP consultation lead to a claim.
“Previously, it would have been seen as an added value benefit but probably not discussed as much as core benefits under a policy. With needs changing as a result of Covid, it is certainly a benefit clients are more aware of and interested in.”
And looking ahead as we emerge from the pandemic, Steve Herbert, head of benefits strategy at Howden Employee Benefits & Wellbeing, predicts virtual GP services will only grow in popularity.
“It’s likely that remote GP services will stay very much in demand post-restrictions too,” he says.
“People are now far more aware of the transmission risks of infectious illness than they were 16 months ago, so sitting in a GP’s surgery in close proximity to other patients might now be considered a needless risk for so many routine appointments.
“The other big driver might well be convenience. It’s far easier to schedule a remote GP appointment around work and personal commitments than it is attending a busy local surgery in one of the few appointment times that might be available.
“So the remote GP appointment is less disruptive to both personal life and importantly working output too. For this reason alone employers are likely to embrace and promote this offering in the future.”
Finally, Herbert notes that remote GP services are now far more readily available as stand-alone products or – increasingly – as a low-cost or free addition to other company-sponsored benefits offerings. So with the product now being far more widely available the use is only likely to increase.
But even if virtual GP services do become the norm as we head into an uncertain future, Satya Bhattacharya, consultant surgeon at The London Clinic, strikes a note of caution, adding that these services must be allied to good governance.
“Online consultations have become the norm – there were so many barriers to that and they have just been swept away by Covid. So Covid has been a catalyst for positive change and transformation in so many ways,” he says.
“We still need to establish in the long term what makes a good virtual consultation and what governance mechanisms are needed around these virtual consultations.
“For example with diagnostics, if we see a patient in our hospital the diagnostics happen in our hospital, but if the patient is contacting me from Northampton, do we get the CT scan done in Northampton or do we get it done in my hospital in London? It’s a challenge.”