The vast array of medical technology solutions for life and health insurance makes thorough evaluation and selection a daunting task. Discover how a structured framework can help insurers navigate a crowded med tech marketplace and identify solutions that align with specific business objectives to deliver measurable results.
Man’s best friend lent a paw – and a vein – to some of the first experiments with medical technology.
In 1656, a decade before he redesigned St. Paul’s Cathedral, famed English architect Christopher Wren spent part of his college years at Oxford injecting dogs with opium. He fashioned a needle from a goose quill and pushed the drug intravenously with a pig bladder as the syringe. Those rudimentary experiments laid the groundwork for hypodermic needles, used today to power remarkable technologies like multi-cancer early detection tests.
Since Wren’s canine tests centuries ago, med tech has exploded into a global marketplace of companies producing diagnostics, software, and devices. Many of these new technologies could enhance the work of insurers, but the overwhelming number of potential med tech partners makes thorough evaluation and selection an intimidating prospect.
By taking a leap out of the comfort zone of existing processes, insurers can apply med tech to achieve onboarding efficiencies, improve health outcomes through early disease detection, create more holistic protection options for customers, and select newer or better risks.
This article introduces the framework that RGA offers clients to explore and assess med tech opportunities.
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines medical technology as the “application of organized knowledge and skills in the form of devices, medicines, vaccines, procedures, and systems developed to solve a health problem and improve quality of lives.”
Before diving into possible med tech solutions, start with a desired outcome or a specific problem that needs solving. Next, assemble a team of relevant subject matter experts from across the company. Depending on the selected outcome or problem, consider including professionals from distribution, product development, underwriting, medical, claims, compliance, IT, and operations.
Avoid tasking this group with figuring out how to force-fit the latest med tech product into the company’s operations. Instead, they should explore how a med tech product can help the company achieve the desired outcome or solve the pressing problem.
Each department brings unique perspectives and expertise that collectively ensure comprehensive evaluation and successful implementation. A collaborative approach prevents siloed decision-making and ensures that med tech investments are strategically aligned, operationally viable, and satisfy regulatory demands. This approach ultimately increases the likelihood of delivering the intended value across all aspects of the insurance business.
To help clients zero in on a solution, RGA’s selection framework offers insurers a three-pronged approach to evaluate med tech: select, detect, and protect.
All insurers want to get the right product in front of the right customers at the right time. Med tech can help facilitate the customer base and individual risk selection processes.
Think about desired outcomes: Does the company want a better risk selection tool, one that targets specific customer segments? Or does the company want a tool that highlights real underwriting risks at the application stage?
In the fast-paced world of med tech, the future of treatment is prevention. Many med tools can enhance an insurer’s management of post-issue, in-force policies by embedding detection tools into insurance products.
For healthy lives, med tech tools can detect desired behaviors and activities, offering rewards and incentives to policyholders. Such tools can also detect unhealthy behaviors and steer those customers toward management pathways and early diagnostics that may prevent progression to more serious disease.
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Insurers can use med tech to embed value-added services and benefits into existing products, connecting customers with care and treatments for complex needs. Post-diagnosis benefits can harness medical advancements to provide focused care to patients and manage claims around complex diagnoses.
The final step in the evaluation process is perhaps the most important: Ensuring the proposed med tech solution has a maximum chance for business success.
Does the technology do what it says it does? Study the med tech’s methodology and whether it is replicable for the desired target markets and segments.
Is the solution supported by scientific evidence? Examine the scientific basis and quality of evidence underpinning the med tech.
Can the solution be modified or adapted in the future? Ideally a med tech solution can grow with a business to handle more customers and increase data volumes. It should also have the capability to incorporate future medical advances.
Is the technology reliable and easily integrated? Med tech solutions should seamlessly integrate with current sales, underwriting, and claims processes and systems. Consider the vendor’s plan for setup, support, and possible reiterations after the tech is up and running.
Does the solution meet the company’s data privacy and security standards? Ensure the solution’s handling of data adheres to relevant data protection regulations. Look for solutions that incorporate robust encryption methods for data storage and transmission. Develop clear protocols for obtaining and managing customer consent for data collection and use.
Does the solution meet necessary ethical considerations? Ensure that the solution’s use of health data does not lead to unfair discrimination in underwriting or pricing, especially when working with AI tools or algorithms. Determine how to clearly communicate to customers how their data is being used and its impact on their policies.
The journey from Christopher Wren's primitive goose quill experiments to today's sophisticated medical technologies represents centuries of innovation that insurers cannot ignore.
While the vast array of available med tech solutions may seem overwhelming, a structured framework can provide a clear pathway for insurers to thoughtfully evaluate and implement technologies that best serve their business objectives. By assembling the right cross-functional teams, focusing on specific outcomes that achieve the business objectives rather than flashy innovations, and carefully considering both the technical capabilities and ethical implications of each solution, insurers can successfully navigate this complex terrain. The key lies not in adopting every new technology that emerges, but in strategically selecting those that deliver the desired impactful outcome, which may be to enhance risk assessment, or improve customer outcomes, ultimately strengthening the insurer's ability to protect and serve their policyholders.
