AXA launches digital healthcare platform with Microsoft

Insurance company AXA has launched a digital healthcare platform in partnership with Microsoft.

Using Microsoft’s expertise in cloud-based computing and artificial intelligence alongside AXA’s experience in healthcare and insurance, the platform aims to provide a “virtual healthcare system that is open to all”.

Following a successful pilot, including a self-assessment tool and teleconsultation, the platform was launched in late 2020.

It is currently open to all AXA customers in Germany and Italy, with the service expected to be rolled out in the United Kingdom, Belgium, Spain and Switzerland in 2022.

The platform is based on technology available in the Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare, including Azure API for FHIR (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources), which enables patient insights without impacting privacy.

The digital healthcare platform will offer a self-assessment and prevention tool; a medical concierge; a teleconsultation interface; a digital document vault; home care services including medicine delivery; and a directory of healthcare professionals.

Thomas Buberl, chief executive of AXA, said: “This ambition is further strengthened today in the face of the current historic worldwide public health crisis.

“In many countries, the fragmentation, complexity and costs of health systems are a barrier to access to care.

“This new ecosystem of services that we have developed with Microsoft is a powerful lever to provide customers with access to the best healthcare solutions.”

In the long-term, the platform aims to allow integration of third-party services, with the ambition of creating an open, global service for healthcare providers and patients, according to a statement from AXA.