Change, more often than not, elicits either one of these opposites – anxiety or excitement. In Janette Hiscock’s (pictured) experience, particularly at UnitedHealthcare Global where she heads the new European operations, it is the latter emotion that is driving her forward.
In this Q&A with Insurance Business, Hiscock tells us where she’s been, where’s she’s taking Global Solutions Europe, and what’s shaping the healthcare space.
What brought you to the world of insurance?
I started my career in the health insurance industry 20 years ago. I began working at Aviva in 1997, managing health insurance, medical, assistance, and security services businesses. Since then, I’ve held a variety of senior roles in sales, client management, and proposition development, and I have been in general management roles for the last six years at Capita, Drum Cussac Group, and now at UnitedHealthcare Global.
My current role is CEO of UnitedHealthcare Global Solutions Europe, leading the European division of UnitedHealthcare Global. UnitedHealthcare Global launched its European insurance business in 2019 providing in-house solutions for international private medical insurance, wellness, security, assistance, and remote medical services. Our full range of solutions makes our offering unique in the European market.
In your more than two decades of industry experience, what have been the biggest challenges for you?
The healthcare industry is constantly evolving. To remain at the forefront of this change has, I believe, been the biggest challenge for many providers. Legislation and regulation are becoming increasingly more stringent, and the advancements in healthcare delivery are becoming more technology-focussed.
Given this, it is imperative that providers keep themselves current and relevant. We have seen both provider and intermediary consolidation across all markets in an effort to keep up, yet the continued investment required in product, people, and infrastructure remains a constant challenge for us all.
Moving from a domestic health insurance provider into the world of global assistance and medical services has helped me expand my knowledge of the healthcare sector and experience the demands of leading a global 24/7 service model. The ability to provide quality assistance and care in often pressurised emergency or volatile situations is truly the most demanding environment I have ever worked in. During this time, I developed a real passion for this global sector.
Joining UnitedHealthcare Global in 2017 allowed me to bring all of this experience and knowledge to the role. We are uniquely placed to offer the entire spectrum of global healthcare products and services, both in a domestic and international setting. The opportunities this has presented both me personally, and us as a business to truly transform the way customers access global care, is what drives me to grow this market through service quality and innovation.
What would you say have been the most notable developments in the sector?
As we know, technological advancement sits at the heart of almost every industry. Both the insurance and healthcare sectors have witnessed noticeable transformations in this area – insurance, goods, and information are now accessible at the click of a button. But how does this impact the traditional physical interaction between provider and customer? This is something we are constantly assessing.
Although healthcare might have been slower to harness the potential of online consultations, advances in ‘virtual care’ has led to an increasing number of interactions between patients and providers taking place outside a traditional bricks-and-mortar setting. The intrinsic value of virtual care is that it allows people to access professional medical help anywhere in the world, even to those in remote or particularly inaccessible locations.
This means that those needing a medical diagnosis, or perhaps mental health counselling, can do so at the click of a button without having to travel, improving individual wellbeing at times of illness by removing the stresses of travelling to an appointment.
Also the ease in which one can now access online health consultations is accompanied by improved access to Employee Assistance Programmes (EAPs). With today’s technology, an individual can access their EAP whenever they want, helping to improve the overall wellbeing of the workforce. EAPs offer employees the solutions to deal with a range of work-life issues such as mental health, family issues, and financial concerns.
Our Optum My Wellbeing app also allows employees to track their fitness and nutrition goals, giving employees easy access to their own health coach so they are set up to work on achieving their own health goals.
As chief executive of Global Solutions Europe at UnitedHealthcare Global, what do you look forward to this year?
The launch of the European business, as authorised by the Central Bank of Ireland, has brought with it a period of significant and exciting change for our organisation. Every day is completely different to the other, and I am looking forward to the advances we have planned and the progressive journey ahead.
In 2020, UnitedHealthcare Global will enter additional European markets. Through this, we will create strong commercial partnerships with organisations to augment our offerings, and we will continue to invest in the digital customer experience for all who we serve.
Re-certification of our ISO accreditation is a key priority as we build on our reputation for high-quality service delivery across both our insurance and medical services businesses, and the continued development of our proposition set to meet the needs of industry sectors, building in the success of our ExploreWell product for the oil & gas market, will also be a focus.
And of course, I am continually impressed by the quality of the people we are attracting, and I look forward to further growing our talented team as we expand throughout the year.
