Babylon partners up with Bupa for ‘one of a kind’ health service

Digital health provider Babylon has announced it is joining forces with Bupa to offer its AI technology to corporate customers.

The partnership means from later this month, corporate Bupa customers will be able to access Babylon’s online GP consultations and its clinical triage service as part of their private health insurance.

Babyon’s founder and CEO, Ali Parsa, told Digital Health News that the partnership was one of a kind.

He said: “Nobody else offers this service when it comes to digital health.”

The partnership follows two years of development and research carried out by the two organisations to understand where and how digital health services can be most meaningfully deployed within corporate environments.

Parsa, who is a keynote speaker at Digital Health’s Summer Schools, said the aim of this research was to find out what employees want from their health care service, giving an example of the managing director in a UK firm who was able to go from symptoms to seeing a specialist “within five to six hours” through using Babylon’s technology.

He added: “That’s the beauty of digital health, it completely democratises and redefines how can get access to it.

“It is like Amazon, when you first use it, you think ‘this just makes sense.

“Now that we know what works for employees and how much impact it can have for employers – we can expand to help even more companies thrive in increasingly challenging times.

“Imagine how much more productive the world will be when every employee is free from the fear of limited access to healthcare.”

As well as having access to unlimited 24/7 online GP consultations and Babylon’s clinical triage service, Bupa customers will also have access to the health care provider’s “digital twin” service which allows patients to tap parts of their body with their smartphone and get medical assessments.

Babylon is looking to roll out the “digital twin” nationally within the next few weeks.

Following its launch later this month to corporate businesses, Bupa will be looking to extend this offer to SME businesses across the UK at some point.

Mark Allan, commercial director, Bupa UK Insurance said: “Working with Babylon, we’re able to give corporate businesses access to 24/7 virtual health services.

“We often hear that time is a barrier to looking after our health, which is why we’re investing in digital solutions that are convenient and quick to access through an app.

We share Babylon’s mission to make healthcare more accessible which is why it’s important we utilise the latest in digital health to help our customers lead healthy lives and offer assurance when they need it.”

This latest collaboration with Bupa follows Babylon’s recently announced partnerships with Samsung and Tencent.