Max Bupa collaborates with GOQii, Swiss Re to promote holistic healing

New Delhi : Health care and insurance expert Max Bupa Health Insurance has announced an exclusive three-way tie up with GOQii, a fitness technology player offering an integrated wellness ecosystem in India, and Swiss Re, a global re insurer, to provide unique and holistic wellness offerings.

The alliance combines the strength of a specialist health insurer and a digital health and wellness expert to provide holistic health and wellness offerings to the digitally savvy customer.

"Over the last few years, we have seen a significant increase in uptake of health insurance among customers under the age of 35 years. This segment is very active digitally and is turning to technology to stay fit. It is predicted that by 2019, two out of five internet users will use a health app. Engagement with such tools could be as high as 50 percent. This gives us a huge opportunity to promote holistic wellness by leveraging personal healthcare devices that are capable of tracking and relaying medically useful information," said Ashish Mehrotra, MD and CEO, Max Bupa.

As part of the offering, Max Bupa consumers will get ready access to GOQii's personalised wellness engine which is equipped with solutions such as health coaching and health management tools. Swiss Re will provide technical assistance to Max Bupa in creating relevant products and building expertise to create risk assessment models for future.

As a part of recent health insurance guidelines, IRDAI is laying a strong emphasis on driving the shift from 'illness to wellness' and encouraging insurance companies to create offerings that cater to preventive healthcare needs of customers.

"At GOQii, we respond to consumer insights with the help of technology innovations to offer fitness products and services which blend seamlessly in a consumer's lifestyle and add value. Going beyond the wearable fitness band, we have introduced tools and services which inculcate the intent of healthy living among consumers," said Vishal Gondal, Founder and CEO, GOQii.

"With more tech-savvy and health conscious consumers, insurers like Max Bupa will have much to gain from working together with partners like GoQii. The overall health insurance programme connected with technology will help to reduce claims cost and allow insurers to better price their products for consumers," added Kalpana Sampat, CEO of Swiss Re India.