Next Best Action explained: Why personalisation is the future of healthy living

To make all this even more meaningful, in some cases, we’ll boost a member’s status to Platinum, as an incentive that allows clients to unlock richer benefits and therefore more value from their plan long before a claim needs to be made, while more effectively encouraging behaviour change. We sat down with Nick Read, Managing Director of Vitality Programme to hear more.

What’s the science behind it?

As with all Vitality Programme innovation and enhancements, this is deep rooted in behavioural, clinical and actuarial science. Next Best Action has a number of layers to it.

“Firstly, we’ve updated the science of Vitality Age to incorporate Vitality Healthspan – the number of years we are likely to live in good health. Our models today are fully calibrated to the latest Global Burden of Disease study and predict life expectancy, healthy life expectancy and risk of specific diseases based on an individual’s lifestyle behaviours.

“We also use advanced machine learning techniques and combine this with the science to make projections about changes in behaviour and future health outcomes. We can then reach into the data and determine the single action today that will have the biggest impact on the number of years that the individual will live in good health – a member’s ‘Next Best Action’.

“For each recommendation, there is a corresponding journey to support and guide members to take action. We’ve brought together new partners and we’re working with Vitality Coaches, clinicians, and more, to deliver these experiences. Members who engage in and complete certain Next Best Actions are awarded a status boost – all the way to Platinum in some cases.”

“Those who would particularly benefit from increasing their levels of physical activity will be provided with weekly nudges to try a particular activity the following week. These nudges are themselves powered by a data science model that propels members along a pathway to the ideal frequency and intensity of exercise. A member is rewarded with extra Active Reward points for completing the recommended activity.

“The Vitality Programme as we know it today, with its target behaviours of physical activity, healthy eating and mental wellbeing, remains the foundational pathway for all members.

“While there’s a huge amount of actuarial and clinical science and sophistication behind its design, what’s critical for us is that Next Best Action is surfaced to your clients in a way that is completely intuitive and easy to use.”

Why is behavioural science such an effective way to encourage positive lifestyle choices?

“Vitality has a very clear core purpose: to make people healthier and enhance and protect their lives. Based on the simple insight that incentivising members to adopt healthy behaviours unlocks value for them, for us as an insurer, and for society as a whole. We call this Shared Value Insurance.

We all know that making healthy choices is not always easy, but our data proves that a simple nudges through a structured behaviour change programme is highly effective. The Vitality Programme can demonstrate tangible impact on the health and productivity of individuals with recent data demonstrating the impact of Vitality Programme on key lifestyle behaviours and life expectancy. For example, for those who do engage with the Vitality Programme, we’ve seen members on average increase their life expectancy by 1.5 years; enjoy an additional 5.2 days of productive time per year for employees and +14% higher job satisfaction for employees.”