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19 Jan 2017
by Liz Morrell

Video: REBA Innovation Day 2016: What US tech could be coming to the UK?

Jane Fenwick, former director and head of global benefits at Shire Pharmaceuticals and now director of RightSpark, highlighted three technologies that are changing things in the US and could one day come to the UK, at the recent REBA Innovation Day 2016.  

Watch RightSpark’s Jane Fenwick session ‘How US-based compensation and benefits could change UK technology’ in full.

The first, CrowdMed, is an online portal that uses the power of more than 15,000 medical detectives (all registered physicians) to diagnose medical conditions for those for whom a diagnosis has proved elusive. Fenwick said that platform typically delivered cost savings of around $205 a month for individuals and proved a valuable investment for Shire. “It was a real demonstration of our investment in the health and wellness agenda,” she said.

She also highlighted Jellyvision, another tool adopted by Shire. The decision support tool questions employees to try to then produce recommendations based on the circumstances of individuals. “It worked for us and the particularly helpful thing for Shire was embedding and driving programme change as we had some key changes to our medical plans in the US,” said Fenwick. She said the tool enabled higher enrolment rates and increased engagement with the plans. “It put the power in the people’s hands to make good decisions,” she said.

And finally, the third powerful technology to be adopted in the US is virtual visits – or telemedicine, according to Fenwick. With cost and time savings – typically around $40 compared to around $1300 for an emergency room visit Fenwick said the trend for virtual medicine was growing quickly. There were around 1 million virtual visits in the US last year and around 75% of companies now offer it as part of their medical plan. “It’s not just a passing trend,” she said.

This video was recorded at the REBA Innovation Day 2016.