VitalityHealth launches new Vitality GP service

VitalityHealth has launched a new Vitality GP service which transforms the health insurer’s capability to deliver class-leading primary care benefits that members can access quickly and easily.

VitalityHealth is now the only organisation offering and funding three choices of GP access for every member – face-to-face, video-call and 24-hour phone advice. The service will be delivered through an enhanced Vitality GP app, which is an evolution from a telemedicine solution to a full ‘clinic in your pocket’ experience.

The new app will also provide members with access to various other types of care and advice. Through the app, VitalityHealth members will be able to self-refer for Priority Physio services, directly access mental health support and source a range of trusted information and advice. The app is delivered by Square Health, a health-tech and healthcare provider and one of the UK’s largest telemedicine providers.

Vitality GP is positioned at the centre of Vitality’s private healthcare offering, enabling GPs to refer patients for minor diagnostic tests, prescribe medication and make referrals into consultant care without the need for an NHS referral. On the wellness side, Vitality GPs will continue to consult with patients regarding their lifestyle choices and the effect that these choices could have on their long-term health.

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.”

Dr Bippon Vinayak, Executive Chairman of Square Health, commented: “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.”

The launch is part of VitalityHealth’s core purpose to help make people healthier and to enhance and protect their lives. Vitality GP is the next evolution of the health insurer’s initial virtual GP service which launched in June 2015. Vitality GP has administered almost 50,000 video consultations since it launched.

Vitality GP is available to VitalityHealth members as a core part of their benefit and is accessible through Android and iOS devices.

About Square Health

Square Health is a specialist health technology solutions provider that works closely alongside leading players within the insurance and corporate sectors. Square Health supports the strategic objectives and brand values of these organisations, enabling them to provide a range of services to their end users. These include: virtual and face-to-face GP consultations, medical screening, 2nd opinion services, health MOTs, prescription services, appointment booking services, specialist referrals, physiotherapy sessions, counselling and dietician appointments. These can all be arranged 24/7 online and delivered via bespoke video app technology.

Square Health’s health technology solutions are highly flexible and truly bespoke enabling organisations to: leverage just one or some of the services available; have them either co-branded or white labeled; connect with an existing healthcare networks. Solutions can be delivered quickly, often within an 8-week period.

Square Health is part of the Doctors Chambers group of companies that was founded in 1994 and provides an established infrastructure with access to over 5,000 medical specialists across the UK. The business has been created and is run by doctors, so has clinical excellence at its heart. Wellness and healthcare are its priority, based on good medical practice, whilst the role of technology is to provide easy access to its services via an intuitive mobile app.  This is unique in the market as the general trend is to build the technology first and then add the doctors and healthcare afterwards.