ITIC Global 2023 | Technology, expats and digital nomads – the future of travel and health insurance is now

The ITIJ team have been reporting live from ITIC Global in Barcelona this week (November 2023) sharing the discussions that took place at the conference. Read all reports

Shaun Boulter, Global Head of Security and Operations – Corporate Mobility, AXA Partners/AXA Assistance

Shaun Boulter’s session looked at business travel from a risk management perspective. Post-Covid trends, he said, included ‘bleisure’, where business trips are extended for leisure purposes; and the increasingly common ‘working from anywhere’ (as opposed to working from home). However, we are seeing a ‘globalisation reset’, where many companies have moved production closer to the consumer, meaning trips are often shorter.

Boulter looked at expats’ exposure to security, health and environmental risks, and spoke of ways to reduce these, from keeping expats healthy to providing psychological support. This is key for long-term assignment, especially those with families. Among expats who return home early, 67 per cent cite family reasons – often it is the spouse who is unhappy rather than the worker themselves. “To have a structured support programme in place for families is essential.”

What happens before the assignment is just as important, he said: pre-medical checks before they are assigned; analysing first whether they are the right person to go. What is their nationality? Who are they and how will they blend into that environment? Does kidnap and ransom insurance need to be considered to make sure they’re protected?

Pre-trip education is also crucial such as training on cross-cultural communication skills, how to deal with loneliness, and the language barrier.

Policy review and reform may be necessary, he said, to understand the differing requirements of each group of overseas workers. “With all these changes and associated risks, new protection and insurance needs are emerging, and organisations are searching for smarter services to cover these additional needs,” Boulter said.

Natalya Butakova, CEO, AP Companies Global Solutions

Natalya Butakova looked at travel trends from the point of view of assistance companies and third-party administrators (TPAs). ‘Slow travel’, for example, can be helpful when providing assistance if the traveller is staying in one place for longer, but it’s no longer about travelling in a tour group and staying in the same hotel; people want to stay in alternative accommodation, perhaps in remote areas, which can make it more difficult to arrange medical assistance. She also looked at the ‘new face’ of expats, including digital nomads, who are by their nature tech savvy. “Tech and travel apps are no longer a privilege; it’s a must and will remain so,” she said.

Medical costs globally have been growing in recent years and are expected to continue to rise seven per cent per year, according to a report from PwC’s Health Research Institute. Hospitals have to face a lot of challenges, including clinical workforce shortages, which are driving costs up; while assistance companies have to try to drive costs down.  

Partnership and collaboration across all segments of the industry would be the key to success, Butakova said: “Medical providers, insurance companies, air ambulance, pharmacists, tech companies, we all have to collaborate to make sure we are most efficient, drive the costs down and deliver the best care to end users.”

She added that there was demand to simplify the process of accessing medical records from around the world, but this had legal and security implications.

Factors that were shaping the future of medical assistance included telemedicine and personalised medicine. “We foresee telemedicine usage growing over the next few years,” she said, adding that some countries were further ahead in this respect than others.

Improving access to health data would enhance personalised care, Butakova said. “The future of medical assistance and third-party administrator (TPA) services will be marked by a growing emphasis on patient-centric, technology-driven, and cost-effective healthcare.”

Elliott Draga, Chief Commercial Officer, Nordic Insurance Software (NIS)

In his session, Elliott Draga looked at the potential and current uses of artificial intelligence (AI) by insurers and industry partners.

Generative AI, said Draga, has the potential to improve a number of processes from claims resolution to fraud detection. It can also increase sales success, for example by offering more personalised services.

Discussing ChatGPT in particular, he said it was trained on 300 billion words, “decades and decades of text on the internet … But it has its limits, the first one being that it’s only trained on a specific set of data, and that goes up to 2021. These conversation AI tools are only as good as the data they’re trained on.”

For insurance industry uses, he said, it wasn’t “context specific enough”. So it may not take over the world, but the tool it’s based on – generative AI – “has significant potential to revolutionise insurance”.

Draga said it might well replace some job functions; but that new roles would also be created to work with the AI tools. Having AI implemented in various companies is going to create a huge opportunity for new jobs and competencies, because consumers are going to demand their interactions with the company to look different.

AI is also being used in generalistic diagnostic tools that are plug and play.

He finished with a look at other tech trends, such as health telematics; it’s not just smart watches any more, he said; there are so many connected health devices, from smart bandages that can assess wound healing, to pills you can swallow to see the health of your gut.

In a panel discussion following the sessions, AI proved a popular topic of conversation.

“AI is going to become so commonplace in every facet of business for us,” he said, adding that it was also proving a strong talent retention tool: “The way you do it is by working with the latest and greatest techs.”