Insurer VitalityHealth has launched an app for customers so they can have their own “clinic in their pocket”.
Through the Vitality GP app, members can set up video consultations with a GP, get onward consultant referrals if needed, arrange physical and psychological therapy sessions and find verified health information.
Members can also get access to mental health support.
Dr Ali Hasan, clinical operations director at VitalityHealth, commented: “We are very excited to launch the new Vitality GP service. This is a transformation of our successful integrated GP proposition and it makes it even easier for our members to access our best-in-class healthcare.
“At VitalityHealth, we don’t see ourselves as just funders of care, but also as trusted providers of advice for our members. We want to help them navigate the healthcare system and, of course, to ultimately achieve the best health outcome possible.
“Our updated Vitality GP is the next evolution of our approach – a health concierge in your hands.”
The app has been delivered by Square Health, a health-tech and healthcare provider and one of the UK’s largest telemedicine providers.
Dr Bippon Vinayak, Executive Chairman of Square Health, said: “At Square Health we have developed a ‘Clinic in a Pocket’ app and platform which acts as a framework to allow us to build bespoke and white-labelled mobile healthcare solutions for our corporate customers.
“We are delighted to have partnered with VitalityHealth to extend and enhance their offering by developing a custom solution tailored to VitalityHealth’s unique proposition.
“This is the beginning of an exciting journey and we very much look forward to the next phase of development.”
1 March 2018 @ 16:19
The private sector is switched on to the needs of the patients. Meanwhile the NHS is trying it;s hardest to resit technology and change to the detriment of patient access and equity…. a la “we’re different”, “not everyone has broadband”, “older people don’t use technology”, etc.
1 March 2018 @ 10:54
I’ve been thinking of what would happen if the NHS structured itself more as a corporate that could utilise resources across boundaries. Right now, we have a fractured system that means I can only see the handful of clinicians from 1 building. Why can’t I discuss my health issues with a clinician the other side of the country who has availability? If I need a F2F, then I can get an appointment at a local branch (what we call a practice at the moment). Discuss.
1 March 2018 @ 16:23
Exactly the issue. You can’t have 1000’s of small businesses operating out of potting sheds and deliver a flexible scaleable services. The same applies to hospitals. Imagine every branch of Tesco had to run its own website and bespoke online services. They just wouldn’t.
I love all the political rhetoric in support of “re-nationalising” the NHS. The first ones to fight it would be GPs and the wider NHS….. “we’re different”.
27 February 2018 @ 11:04
another corporate sucking the capacity out of a struggling system for the benefit of those who can afford to pay
1 March 2018 @ 20:23
Those two statements totally contradict each other. If the people who can pay use another service clearly it would free up the NHS (not The other way around- it’s called a win win)