Collinson Group partners with digital health specialist babylon giving customers free, 24/7 global access to a doctor

―  The app will give customers free video or telephone access to a UK GP 24/7 wherever they are in the world

―  Features include a symptom checker, video consultations with doctors, the ability to text a GP for free and health tracking. Prescriptions can also be issued to the nearest pharmacy or delivered within the UK

―  Collinson Group has partnered with digital health specialist babylon to enhance their medical and travel insurance service suite

―  The babylon app is being rolled out to Collinson Group’s Columbus Direct customers initially

London, xxth June, 2017 – Collinson Group, the insurance and assistance firm behind leading brands such as Columbus Direct and Intana Global, has partnered with digital health specialist babylon to enhance their product portfolio. Through the babylon app, users will have free video or telephone access to a doctor at any time wherever they are in the world. Additional features include a symptom checker while prescriptions can be issued wherever possible to nearby pharmacies.

The new service is initially being rolled out to the group’s Columbus Direct customers, with a view to offering it as an additional service to the rest of Collinson Group’s client base.

Collinson Group believes there are a number of different B2B product lines that digital health can benefit, including travel insurance and international private medical insurance (iPMI) as a means to contain costs as well as being a sales and loyalty driver. As a product enhancement in the iPMI space, Collinson believes digital health can offer a significant value add to their clients by increasing loyalty and differentiation for end customers, but also by delivering cost savings for clients through reduced medical claims costs.

Rebecca White, Head of Proposition, at Collinson Group said: “Collinson Group’s global footprint, assistance capability, insurance knowledge, innovation and customer insight place us in a unique position to support our partner’s growth. We believe that advances in technology and digital capabilities mean that digital health will increasingly become a mainstream part of the medical and travel insurance service suite, particularly as mobile devices become more sophisticated and the options for remote diagnostics and virtual support escalate. We are pleased to be working with babylon to provide this service to our customers and clients.”

London-based babylon is the UK’s leading digital healthcare service. The company has brought together one of the largest teams of scientists, clinicians, mathematicians and engineers to focus on combining the ever growing computing power of machines to create a highly advanced innovative healthcare service. In April this year, babylon announced a c. £50m investment to build the world’s most advanced artificial intelligence platform in healthcare, to support medical diagnosis and predict personalised health outcomes globally.

Dr Ali Parsa, CEO and Founder, babylon, said: “At babylon, we’re transforming the way people think about healthcare, and working with other leading innovators such as Collinson Group is a big part of making this happen. For example, your health is not something that stays at home when you go on holiday or abroad on business. By working with babylon, Collinson Group are now making it easier and faster for customers to seek the help they need – in turn bringing better value to their clients”.

– Ends –

For further information please contact:

Hugh Fasken/ Patricia De Bidegain

Citigate Dewe Rogerson

t. 020 7282 2806/ 020 7282 2854/ 020 7282 2803

e.

About Collinson Group

Collinson Group (http://www.collinsongroup.com) is a global leader in influencing customer behaviour to drive revenue and value for its clients. It offers a unique blend of industry and sector specialists across four core capabilities: Loyalty, Lifestyle Benefits, Insurance and Assistance. The group has over 25 years’ experience, employing 2,000 staff, servicing over 800 clients from 26 global locations, and managing over 20 million end customers.

The group provides unrivalled insight and expertise around affluent consumers and frequent travellers, creating and delivering products and services that increase engagement, loyalty and value for customers.

Our clients are market leaders from across the globe including: 500 banks internationally, Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Barclays, Credit Mutuel, Air France KLM, Cathay Pacific, British Airways, Intercontinental Hotel Group, Hilton Hotels, and Vodafone.

We have been bringing innovation to the market since inception - launching the first independent global VIP lounge access programme, Priority Pass, being the first to sell direct travel insurance in the UK through Columbus Direct and we created the first loyalty agency of its kind in the travel sector with ICLP. Today we still invest heavily in innovation to ensure that we continue to deliver superior customer experiences.

About babylon

babylon is the UK’s leading digital healthcare service. Its purpose is to democratise healthcare by putting an accessible and affordable health service into the hands of every person on earth. To achieve this, babylon has brought together one of the largest teams of scientists, clinicians, mathematicians and engineers to focus on combining the ever-growing computing power of machines, with the best medical expertise of humans, to create a comprehensive, immediate and personalised health service and make it universally available.

Launched to the public in April 2014, the service now covers over 800k people globally, with local services operating in the U.K, Europe and Africa. Over 4 out of 5 users of the service rate babylon with a 5 star satisfaction rating. Many leading health insurance providers, including Bupa and Aviva, plus over 120 companies have also partnered with babylon to offer its services to their employees as part of their benefits packages. babylon have established a number of partnerships within the NHS to provide better patient choice, convenience and access to primary care services. In September 2016, babylon launched in Rwanda providing Rwandan users with health information, prescriptions and consultations via their mobile devices. In the first 6 months, over 10% of the Rwandan adult population had registered with babylon.

Regulated by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in the UK, babylon offers users a personal health service by providing fast, convenient access to General Medical Council (GMC) registered doctors and British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) registered therapists. The babylon app allows users to book a consultation face-to-face via a smartphone or desktop computer, check symptoms using cutting edge AI technology; ask medical questions, monitor overall health indicators (including pulse, stress, blood pressure), carry out health tests and keep clinical records in one password protected, secure location. babylon GP appointments and expert medical advice are available 24/7.

babylon was included in WIRED’s 2016 Top 100 Hottest Startups in Europe and CB Insights 2017 Global ‘AI 100’ list. Fortune Magazine included babylon in their 2017 list of ‘50 Companies Leading the AI Revolution’, the only listed company delivering a digital healthcare solution. A full list of

babylon’s awards and accolades can be seen below and here. Watch babylon’s How it Works video, for a 3 minute overview of our service.

Published report: Sorting out symptoms: design and evaluation of the ‘babylon check’ automated triage system

Babylon awards and accolades to date:

2017 / Winner: Health Investor Awards, IT Innovator of the Year
Winner: Digital Agenda Impact Award Winner 2017 for Health
Winner: CB Insights AI 100
Official Competitor: IBM Watson AI XPrize
2016 / Winner: WIRED Top 100 Hottest Start ups in Europe
Winner: Health Investor Awards, IT Innovator of the Year
Winner: World Summit Award Mobile, Health & Wellbeing
Winner: ACQ5 ‘UK Gamechanger of the Year 2016 (Ali Parsa)’
Winner: ACQ5 ‘UK Niche Tech Company of the Year 2016 (Healthcare)’
Winner: The Finance Monthly CEO Awards Winner (Ali Parsa)
Winner: Everline Future 50 Most Disruptive British Businesses
Winner: Finance Monthly CEO Awards
Winner: The Lovie Awards
Winner: Hot Topics Health Tech Top 100
Winner: Apps World London, Best use of app Technology
Winner: Real Innovation Awards Finalist, Harnessing the Winds of Change Award
Finalist: Meffys Award
Selected: Commonwealth First Export Champions, First Cohort
2015 / Winner: Health Investor Awards, IT Innovator of the Year
Winner: BT - Innovation for the public sector
Winner: AXA PPP Health Tech & You
Shortlisted: Laingbuisson Awards 2015
Shortlisted: HSJ Healthcare Leaders
Shortlisted: UK IT Industry shortlisted 2015
Selected: Apple Appstore Best New App
Selected: Everline Future 50

[ends]