OREANDA-NEWS. Aviva is bringing the latest digital technology to some of its customers by signing a partnership with babylon, a leading UK-based mobile health company.

The deal will see the roll-out of an innovative virtual health service, the babylon app, to some of Aviva’s UK customers starting with key corporate healthcare clients. Through babylon, customers will have quick and convenient access to family GPs, specialist consultants, and state of the art health monitoring and treatment.

The partnership illustrates Aviva’s commitment to become a truly digital insurer, using the latest technology and digital innovation to serve customers more effectively and transform their experience of dealing with Aviva. Customers increasingly want to do business digitally with Aviva and digital will be central to how Aviva operates.

Aviva hopes to improve customers’ clinical outcomes and help reduce workplace absence rates by enabling quick and convenient access to primary healthcare services through the virtual service.

Through babylon, customers will be able to book video or phone consultations with GPs and clinicians, without the need to visit a surgery. Appointments can be booked in seconds and customers have access to doctors 12 hours a day, six days a week, and can also ask any health related questions via text.

Prescriptions can be posted or collected from a local pharmacy and if symptoms need further investigation, babylon provides instant referrals to specialists and diagnostic tests as and when required, through a network of specialists across the UK.

The app also features a sophisticated symptom checker that offers customers clear advice and a monitor function that checks health and fitness vitals to help customers monitor and improve their health.

Aviva has started work with some of its key large corporate health customers to offer the babylon service to some of their UK employees.

Following the initial trial, Aviva hopes to extend the offer of the babylon app to other corporate healthcare clients.

David McMillan, Chairman Global Health Insurance and Chief Executive Officer, Europe at Aviva, says: “The partnership with babylon highlights Aviva’s commitment to pioneering new digital services for customers. We see huge potential for this innovation to improve our customers’ access to primary health care and ultimately their overall health.”

Dr Ali Parsa, founder and Chief Executive of babylon, says: “The recent development in technology and advances in medicine are ushering in the most profound improvements in quality, accessibility and affordability in healthcare. babylon brings together the most advanced technologies and experienced clinicians to provide a personal health service that is available to all, anytime, anywhere. Today Aviva is making it possible for its key health clients to be among the first in the world to experience the future of healthcare. We are proud to be working with such a forward looking partner.”

babylon is the first organisation of its kind to be registered with the independent healthcare regulator The Care Quality Commission (CQC) and has designated body status from NHS England. All GPs who work with babylon are GMC registered and have at least five years’ recent postgraduate experience.