Insurers must get closer to their members and establish themselves as trusted lifestyle partners

Insurance Awareness Day

The global health insurance market was valued $1.721 trillion in 2020 and is forecast to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate of 8.55%[1]. That’s a staggering figure to share with you on International Insurance Awareness Day! This projected rate of growth for our industry serves as a reminder of the tremendous opportunities that are out there for those of us who are willing to embrace change and prioritise innovation.

Here in the UAE we know the crucial importance of building a truly world-class healthcare ecosystem. As insurers, we have a crucial role to play in facilitating seamless, sustainable access to healthcare.

For modern insurers in the healthcare sector, it is no longer sufficient to merely pay out claims and automate our backend processes – insurers need to get closer to their members and establish themselves as an industry expert in their specific field.

At Daman, we see ourselves as a trusted healthcare partner for our members and want to help them take control of their own health and well-being, to live healthier, more fulfilling lives.

Over the past year, we have worked incredibly hard to empower our members to make positive lifestyle decisions and to proactively manage their own health.

We’ve continued to promote our range of sporting and social activities to encourage people to get active and remain healthy, even during the pandemic. Since we started doing these programmes, back in 2012, over a million people have taken part in our interactive health and sports sessions.

As well as getting closer to their members, modern insurers also need to step into the twenty first century and embrace digital transformation and new technology – something I have spoken about extensively in previous posts. 

Earlier this year, we took a huge step in our digital evolution and made our entire portfolio of in-branch services available to our Thiqa members, via the Hayakom-Thiqa virtual branch service. Hayakom-Thiqa was a first for the GCC health insurance sector and helped to cement our position as a genuine leader in digital innovation within the sector. Through our digital smart branches, our Thiqa customers were able to avail all the services they would find in our physical branches remotely. For the first time in history, members were able to access the full range of in-branch services, remotely - wherever they were.

Since launching our Hayakom-Thiqa virtual branch, the service has consistently operated at 100% capacity. In response to this huge success, we took the next step and opened our digital branches to all of our 2.5 million members, illustrating our commitment to the digitisation of our service offering.

On International Insurance Awareness Day 2021, it pays to remember the critical role that we as an industry play in helping people get better access to healthcare and improve their quality of life. The industry, as a whole, must embrace change and be prepared to invest in innovation. 

At Daman, we believe that we are more than just an insurer - we are a trusted healthcare partner to millions of members across the country. We are committed to bringing them the best, cutting edge portfolio of services that we can: today and tomorrow.

[1] https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2021/06/03/2241060/0/en/Global-Health-Insurance-Market-By-Type-of-Insurance-Provider-By-Type-of-Coverage-By-Term-of-Coverage-By-Mode-of-Purchase-By-End-Users-By-Region-Competition-Forecast-Opportunities-2.html