What is the role of digitization in the insurance sector?

Embracing technological changes and leveraging the potentials of this digital revolution has become a necessity for all businesses including insurance. Through digitalization, we have been able to improve the quality of our customer experience. We know people expect immediacy, personalization and convenience at their fingertips. Customers need easy steps to get what they want. Through digitalization, we can reduce complexity, improving our service delivery.

In our experience, starting with the most important customer journey. This could be finding a healthcare provider, ordering medication or checking symptoms. Then digitize the experience making it easier, quicker and more convenient for the customer.

During the last two years, the pandemic has accelerated the want and need for these improvements. It was the perfect time to introduce digital services so people could get things done while still restricting their movements.

What is the impact of digitization?

Through the improvements made to our digital platforms and services, we are able to see an improvement in the customer experience allowing them to complete their tasks easier and quicker than other methods before. Driving change and improving the quality of the customer journey should lead the digital health transformation and reduce challenges by providing start to finish healthcare solutions, which benefit all members, insurers and businesses.

Our priority remains to provide insurers, businesses and individuals a smooth customer journey while navigating our healthcare systems and facilitating access to care. Through the MyNextcare app, member can register and benefit from a range of practical digital health solutions. They can check policy benefits, track claims, search for healthcare providers, book appointments, call a doctor, check their symptoms, and more. All of these services are available in most of the countries that we serve. They save time for our users and give them access to care within a few swipes and clicks.

What are the major transformations in the near future and the latest expansions? 

I expect that the healthcare sector in the future will be more patient-oriented and organized in a more structured and transparent way. From our side, we will work on more integrated offerings, additional home services and the possibility for self-medication apps backed by artificial intelligence.

I would hope that more and more healthcare providers become digitized so that we can all provide a more efficient patient journey for all parties. Digitization and investing in digital services should not be considered a cost constraint, but rather a source for improvement.

We were able to achieve positive growth in terms of premiums in many of the countries in which we operate, including Lebanon, despite the difficult economic conditions it is going through; in addition to Egypt, where our insurance portfolio has grown and we have achieved satisfactory profits as a result of major investments and the excellent economic wheel in the country, in addition to political and security stability.