Aetna hosts first Health Matters Forum in Europe

In April, we held the first ever Aetna International Health Matters Forum — an event dedicated to training and development for our broker partners on topics including compliance and pricing, and to demonstrating the organisation’s approach to personalised member care, health outcomes and the levels of support available.

Held at the world-leading private hospital and charity, The London Clinic, the event provided the perfect opportunity for select broker partners to see first-hand the cancer treatment care received by Aetna International members at the independent private hospital.

Transcript: Great to see so many of you here, it will be a great evening. We’ve got a lot lined up for you. Certainly, from our perspective, personalising care is really important. It makes such an incredible difference and I’m certainly keen to hear what we have to say.

Our key brokers who are here today told us they wanted some more work around training and development, particularly around the third parties we deal with and around compliance and pricing. So, I think we’ve fulfilled that need today, we really have given them what they are looking for.

To me the best part of today has definitely been the opportunity to speak to Adam and have an open discussion about underwriting. I love the way he’s very open and transparent, it’s quite refreshing as you don’t normally get that from an insurer, so it really makes a difference. Really good, I really enjoyed that.

So the best bits about holding these events, especially with our dear partner Aetna, is the chance for some of Aetna’s team and also the brokers, to get to know about the fantastic facilities where Aetna send their patients.

The only way to do that is to get people here to meet the teams that are involved with the patients care, to meet our nurses, to meet our chefs, to meet our housekeepers and actually find out what happens in a hospital.

We’re giving an opportunity to see first hand where the patients go, what the pathways are like, meet some of the clinical staff and really walk in the shoes of some of the patients that come through our doors.

As a broker, and obviously working with Aetna as an insurer, we get involved at the very beginning when the patient first files a claim but after that there’s no contact with us. We obviously rely on the clinics and hospitals to provide that service so, to hear about that has been really insightful for me today.

It gives you that little bit more perspective on number one, what the members go through, but then also what the insurers are having to do at their end and how that all ties in to the member experience as a whole. So, I think that’s been pretty beneficial today.

The thing I found most enjoyable was hearing just how personal the experience is, how dedicated the team are here to really understand everyone’s specific journey.

To actually see what the patients feel and get from the policies, ultimately at the end is really nice to see, so… it’s been good.

It’s reminding us I think, about how important the employee experience is and bringing it back to actually what is really important… and it is the people… making sure they’re healthy, that they’re taken care of and that they feel supported, and that’s the thing that I will take away most.

I’ve also got to say that the food has been absolutely fantastic today. It’s amazing to think and sometimes you think you’re in a five-star hotel, but I’m actually in a hospital.

We wanted to challenge the boundaries of hospital based food, so we’ve now managed to have some of those creative, diverse, fascinating and absolutely delicious menus’ here, with a brilliant team led by Executive Head Chef, Paul.

The partnership now represents a Fortune 4 business in the U.S., so we’re turning over more, in terms of revenue than Apple.

You guys are just singing from the same song sheet the whole time about member care and personalisation, so it’s really reassuring, to see that the insurers we work with place such high importance on that.

Thank you, thank you very much for having us.

People mingling at Aetna International's Health Matters Forum at The London Clinic

The dedication of The London Clinic team shone through as oncologists and physiotherapists talked about the way they treat the ‘whole person’. During the event, cancer nurse specialist, Mandy Hatcher, talked through the touching series of bespoke ‘Moving on after Cancer’ workshops she runs to help people readjust to life after treatment.

Guests were given a ‘behind the scenes’ taste in more ways than one, with beautifully prepared food and a range of fresh juices served by Paul O’Brien, executive head chef at The London Clinic. Paul took the time to explain the important role of visually appealing, as well as nutritious and delicious, food to the holistic care of those undergoing cancer treatment.

We were also able demystify some key industry topics for brokers and were very lucky to be joined by Adam Jamieson and Geraldine Quirk from BCLP Law. They shared their insight on national and international compliance and regulations, while Adam Stretton, Underwriting Manager, Aetna International answered some frequently asked queries about the intricacies of international private medical insurance pricing. Medical director, Mitesh Patel, was also on hand to explain the medical evacuation service and support available for our members in the event of an emergency by sharing a case study of a holidaying member recently attacked by a hippo in a remote location in Zimbabwe.

Woman smiling and laughing at Aetna International's Health Matters Forum

At Aetna, partnership is at the heart of everything we do and this was a great example of how it works in practice. A huge thank you to all involved, particularly Nick Da Costa and his team at The London Clinic for working so hard to welcome us all.

If you weren’t able to make it this time but would like to know more about the topics covered, our commitment to helping people on their path to better health or future events, please get in touch and we’d be happy bring you up to speed.

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Aetna hosts first Health Matters Forum in Europe

Transcript