This time it's personalised: Why 'Next Best Action' is the future of prevention

‘Next Best Action’ uses behavioural science to encourage clients to quit smoking, become a healthier weight or get active in a way that will add healthier years to their lifespan. This is the next evolution of wellbeing and this time it’s personalised, writes Greg Levine, Vitality Sales and Distribution Director.

There’s no denying that incentivising positive lifestyle choices in a world forever changed by a global pandemic is good for everyone. For clients, it motivates them to stay well, helping to ensure they spend more of their life in good health. This makes for a more productive, healthier population putting less strain on the NHS. For insurers, helping members to avoid preventable illness – that represents 40% of the UK’s total disease burden¹  – is only going to be reflected in a better claims experience for all involved.

For advisers, there are significant benefits too – as it brings tangible value to clients in a way that enriches their lives from day one of their plan (not just at the point of claim). Not only does this engender a more engaged, loyal client relationship, it can generate referral opportunities and ensure business is sticky enough to stay on the books.

‘Next Best Action’

Rewarding your clients for looking after themselves is one thing. But in order to profoundly make a preventative impact on their long-term health, we’ve developed a new, personalised approach that drives individual members to take the most important ‘Next Best Action’ for them.

How do we do this? Using Vitality data and insight, we identify and predict the most vital behaviour change your client could make to add maximum healthy years to their life – for example, giving up smoking or getting more active if they have high BMI. Then, through a range of simple, intuitive user pathways (via Member Zone), we recommend this action to your client with access to the tools they might need – such as Quit Genius (to give up smoking), Second Nature (to help them lose weight), or other group coaching programmes.

Once this action is taken, members are given status boosts – as far as Platinum for smoking cessation or significant weight loss – or extra activity points to reflect the value of their individual health improvement. Not only does this increase the chances they will live healthier, longer lives, it unlocks value we can then share with them in the form of lower premiums and richer benefits.

Why? Because for individuals with specific health risks, sometimes changing even one key behaviour will generate greater than usual actuarial benefit – so we believe that should be justly rewarded and reflected by pricing. Adding to this, as part of our latest enhancements, we’ve added a range of additional Active Rewards – such as Pure Gym, Peloton and Mindful Chef – to further fuel this behaviour change.

Vitality is for everyone

While some financial advisers could be forgiven for assuming that Vitality is best suited to their clients who are into fitness and already active, many advisers out there already know this is not the case. I truly believe that our latest enhancements and the introduction of ‘Next Best Action’ will go a long way to remind intermediaries that our Shared Value approach to behaviour change is there for any client who wants to make positive lifestyle choices – not just fit, physically active ones. Quite the opposite.

Don’t just take my word for it. Here’s the view of Matthew Chapman, protection adviser and commercial director of Plus Protect. “I used to be of the opinion that it was the fit, healthy, gym-going clients that would benefit most from a plan with a rewards programme that incentivises healthy lifestyle choices,” he says. “But experience has taught me that this is not true. Those who benefit most from the Vitality Programme are clients that would like to make better lifestyle choices but need some motivation to begin that journey and stick to it. Often it just gives them the push they need to implement those initial changes and make them part of their lifestyle on a day-to-day basis.

“What’s interesting,” he concludes, “is that if you think about those clients that could do with a little bit of help in this regard, it’s fair to say that probably applies to pretty much everyone in the UK. That’s why I think Vitality is the ideal solution for any client that wants to make more healthy lifestyle choices.”

Let your next best action drive positive change in your clients by sharing and explaining Vitality’s disruptive approach to traditional insurance.

To learn more about how we are using personalised journeys to encourage members to take their ‘Next Best Action’ watch the short video below.




Find out more about our latest enhancements to the Vitality Programme and how we are encouraging your clients to take the ‘Next Best Action’ for their health and wellbeing

Sources:
1. Maximising quality of life: A primer on healthspan and lifespan, Vitality Research Institute