Big data applied to healthcare is a hot topic as it offers unique opportunities to deliver top-quality healthcare. However, health insurance companies would also profit and adapt their prices based on personal data.
This emerging issue has also been picked up by EurActiv, who published an interview with Robert Dickie of Zurich Insurance.
Providing ICT data about your health and wellbeing (eHealth) is becoming increasingly important to deliver top-quality care to European citizens.
However, there is a counter balance to this emergence of big data and health monitoring apps as insurance companies have access to personal data about their clients. Robert Dickie of Zurich Insurance admits that eHealth is changing the way insurance companies work: they are more selective on health risks, set more attractive portfolios, and raise their prices for risk profiles. Although the consumer owns the data, “being prepared to share data, with mutual consent, could lead to different pricing, not necessarily better naturally”, according to the insurance executive.
This basically means that patients at risk have to choose between health risk or financial risk, and leads to a possibility that some people become insurable.
The interview with Robert Dickie of Zurich Insurance can be found here.
