Singlife with Aviva solves an age-old issue with empathy and smart technology

Singlife with Aviva's eMedex initiative bagged the Singapore Service Experience of the Year - Financial Services at the Asian Experience Awards 2021 

It is a well-known fact that the medical underwriting cycle time for insurance applications can be annoyingly long. This was a common feedback point raised by Singlife with Aviva’s advisers who serviced customers with complex protection needs. 

In response, Singlife with Aviva launched the eMedex initiative in December 2020 to significantly reduce medical underwriting cycle time for insurance applications. The results were astounding - from over a month to just seven working days. 

The initiative operates using a smart doctor-patient matching algorithm which develops a comprehensive understanding of the individual along the process. In eMedex, customers get a text message to book a medical appointment with suitable doctors and clinics. Singlife with Aviva then matches customers to doctors based on their proximity and their preference; for a female doctor, for example. The platform also helpfully provides necessary information for appointments and tests such as fasting requirements. 

Clinic selection was a key component of the initiative and Singlife with Aviva identified clinic partners who could integrate their digital systems effectively along with being well-placed to serve customers. Customers can now choose from 20 clinics across Singapore, enabling greater reach and accessibility. At the same time, the total time spent at the clinic is under just 40 minutes, inclusive of pre-assessment and clinical examination by the doctor. 

eMedex is a third-party digital platform that connects to the appointment systems of its partner clinics, who use it to digitally complete medical exam reports. The report is then transferred to Singlife with Aviva’s workflow management system within minutes. eMedex can also anticipate customers’ needs, helping to schedule appointments for medical examinations as well as with the electronic transfer of medical reports. 

Customer security and data protection are also key priority areas. Only relevant data is provided to the eMedex digital platform to facilitate appointment scheduling. Other forms of personal data are not shared until the time of the actual medical exam. An OTP is pushed to the customer’s mobile phone post-examination, with the code being the password to unlock the medical report. This prevents customer data from being divulged unnecessarily if there is a no-show for the appointment. 

After the data is digitally reviewed and confirmed, the clinic will no longer be able to access the medical report after 24 hours and the medical reports will be transferred to Singlife with Aviva digitally—which means instant receipt and guaranteed efficiency. 

Through this process, over 90% of Singlife with Aviva’s customers have rated the experience with the digital platform as “good” or “great”. The underwriting cycle time has been drastically reduced from 30 days to just 11 days, from the time that customers are informed of the medical examination to the completion of the exam, and finally to the time when underwriting decisions are made. 

With the ease and convenience afforded to consumers by the eMedex initiative, Singlife with Aviva won the Singapore Service Experience of the Year - Financial Services at the Asian Business Review’s Asian Experience Awards 2021. Efforts at reducing medical underwriting cycle time have shown promising results, and a satisfied customer base is proof of that.