Bespoke Health Service From Bupa Global

Health and time are our most valuable assets, which is why Bupa Global has developed a bespoke package of premium health insurance and wellbeing support that reaches beyond healthcare. We caught up with Nichola Thomson, General Manager of Bupa Global to learn more about the all-encompassing Private Client by Bupa

Please outline the current health and wellbeing climate as you see it, and where Bupa Global fits in.

Nichola Thomson: Covid-19 forever changed our attitudes to health, wellbeing and the importance of maintaining a positive life-work balance. Data from our Global Executive Wellbeing Index confirms that nine out of ten wealth creators and business leaders were making changes to their health and lifestyles as a result of the pandemic.

The report detailed what the global elite expects in a premium health insurance service, which includes:

– A personalised healthcare concierge to help them manage their policy and provide one-stop services;

– A healthcare service which monitors their health conditions, provides advice, support, alerts, or even intervention; and

– Personal and dedicated service from a trusted concierge who knows them, their family and their lifestyles.

At Bupa Global, we are committed to listening, learning and acting on feedback – so we have curated a complete concierge service for the mind, body and being, which offers far more than healthcare. Private Client by Bupa delivers proactive health and wellbeing support that is designed to be used. The Ultimate Global Health Plan provides a personal Lifecare Concierge Manager to support peace of mind by guiding and managing your own and your family’s healthcare and wellbeing.

What sets Private Client by Bupa apart from other premium health insurance?

NT: Conventional health insurance policies are designed to be there when you have a specific medical need – such as a check-up or surgical procedure – and they come with an underlying assumption that you only access cover when it’s necessary. Private Client by Bupa flips this paradigm because it is far more than healthcare, it is a complete lifecare package that is designed to be used all around the world, subject to local availability, and with no overall annual limit on cover.

At its core is the Ultimate Global Health Plan, a premium private health insurance which ensures access to leading medical experts and healthcare facilities, around the world and whenever you need them. Unlike some policies, this is health insurance that travels with you and provides the same level of cover whether you are at home, or abroad.

And to ensure you get the most from Ultimate, the highest tier health plan includes a named Lifecare Concierge Manager who will coordinate all your healthcare needs – around your diary and at your convenience – as well as providing proactive support to promote optimal physical and mental wellbeing.

What can Private Client by Bupa deliver that my PA can’t do?

NT: There is no doubt that behind every leader and high- achiever there is usually a great team of trusted advisers and aides – and Private Client by Bupa adds another key player to this essential support team.

Your Lifecare Concierge Manager can take on any of the healthcare tasks a PA might deliver, such as seamlessly keeping you up to date with any medical appointments, arranging pre-authorisation for treatments and handling claims.

But our ambitions for your health extend far beyond this. Rather than simply addressing issues as they arise, your Lifecare Concierge can arrange checks and scans as well as complementary and preventative treatments that could help to head off illness.

Our Lifecare Concierge Managers immerse themselves in the background, medical history, treatment preferences and wellbeing goals of their assigned clients and families. This enables them to utilise the most appropriate expertise, knowledge-banks and resources of the Bupa network to provide personalised support for the mind, body and being. They can scan the horizon for upcoming treatments and medical advances and continually explore ways to optimise the whole family’s health and wellbeing.

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And if you, or a family member, needs medical assistance, your Lifecare Concierge Manager is just a phone call or email away. If necessary, they can arrange every aspect of your care from transfer to a medical facility, or repatriation if the treatment you need is not available where you are, access to the best surgical and medical practitioners and comprehensive aftercare and rehabilitation, including time in a health resort following a serious illness, subject to eligibility.

How can Private Client by Bupa support my partner and family?

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NT: Your Lifecare Concierge Manager is there to proactively manage and support your family’s health and wellbeing. And they ensure any potential needs are not only understood, but anticipated, wherever your family might be located. Your dedicated Lifecare Concierge Manager could guide your partner and children through specific family-focused benefits, such as maternity cover and assisted fertility treatment after just 10 months membership, vaccinations including childhood immunisation, HPV and flu, and, in some cases, genetic cancer screening.

And this is in addition to the wide range of benefits and cover which ensure that your family members, have easy access to the same extensive cover that you do. Subject to underwriting, the plan covers two children up to the age of 16 at no extra cost.

This includes health checks, prescribed drugs, dressings and diagnostics and access to specialists without the need for a GP referral in most cases. For a family with young children, the ability to self-refer to a paediatrician when a child is unwell is invaluable.

There is also extensive dental cover including checkups, fillings and implants after only six months membership; optical care including glasses, contact lenses and refractive eye surgery; musculoskeletal care from physiotherapists, osteopaths and chiropractors; a suite of complementary and preventive therapies including cryotherapy, vitamin therapy, acupuncture and reflexology – and much more.

Private Client by Bupa also unlocks a wealth of resources to promote optimal health and wellbeing for the whole family through lifestyle strategies such as diet, exercise, sleep, meditation and mindfulness.

Can you provide some examples of the services you have been able to offer?

NT: When a client is travelling for business, or a family holiday, their Lifecare Concierge Manager can schedule any pre-flight vaccinations and ease the transition to a new time zone by arranging treatments such as a sports massage or IV drips to counter jetlag.

In one recent health emergency, within four hours of a call from a member with acute symptoms, a Lifestyle Concierge Manager had arranged for a GP to go to their home and arrange an urgent transfer to hospital, where they had surgery the following day.

When Aducanumab, a breakthrough treatment for Alzheimer’s – the first in almost two decades – was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration, a UK-based customer emailed within hours of the announcement to ask if he could access the therapy. Although it would be at least another year before the new drug was cleared for use in the UK, he was reassured that Private Client by Bupa would provide access to the treatment in the country in which it was approved.

Does Private Client by Bupa provide mental health and wellbeing support?

NT: Yes – and with no overall annual limits – because we know that your mind is as important as your body and physical and mental health are closely intertwined.

Data from Bupa Global’s Executive Wellbeing Index shows that almost nine in ten global senior leaders have experienced symptoms of poor mental health, so we know how important it is for high-net-worth individuals (HNWI) to recognise and understand the symptoms of burnout, high-functioning anxiety and other psychological challenges. But that same data also found that 15% of HNWIs did not disclose their mental health challenges to colleagues for fear of losing respect.

Your Lifecare Concierge Manager can help to allay these concerns and encourage the uptake of positive coping strategies such as mindfulness and meditation.

In a tight economy we’re all focused on savings, what is the value of this proposition?

NT: Further research from Bupa shows that almost two thirds (59%) of the UK’s elite are now prioritising investment in their health and wellbeing, over luxury goods. There is also evidence from Harvard Law School, Science Direct, and the American Journal of Health Promotion of a correlation between a company’s financial success and the health of its executives and corporate health culture.

It is impossible to put a price on good health and wellbeing, but we do know how much our clients value the health insurance cover, lifecare and peace of mind that Private Client by Bupa provides.

Further information

For more information about Private Client by Bupa visit bupaprivateclient.com or call 0371 346 0138.

Private Client by Bupa is a concierge service providing personalised health and wellbeing services for the Ultimate Global Health Plan insured by Bupa Global.
Calls may be recorded and monitored. Bupa Global is a trading name of Bupa Insurance Limited and Bupa Insurance Services Limited. Bupa Insurance Limited is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority. Bupa Insurance Services Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

About the author

Nichola Thomson is the General Manager of Bupa Global