My MentalHealthCoach Qorus-NTT DATA Innovation in Insurance Awards 2025

Mental health issues affect insurance companies in many ways - For many years, the gap between supply and demand in psychotherapy has been increasing. Waiting times are reaching currently 142 days in Germany. As a result, episodes of mental illness are longer and more frequent than desirable. - Health insurers thus incur substantial cost in the treatment of mental illness and concurrent diseases. Treatment cost for patients with severe depression, for example, are more than four times higher than for patients with no depression. - Life insurers have long experienced mental health issues as a leading cause of disability. - Moreover, mental health issues have been a high and growing cause of working days lost as well as of presenteeism. This is directly affecting the productivity of insurers and of their corporate clients – limiting growth, in particular as demographic changes reduce talent pools.

My MentalHealthCoach is a package of services that has been built to overcome the most critical deficits in care, based on the latest scientific research and the cumulative experience that Generali Health Solutions has developed over many years. - A few key insights have shaped the concept: a) Individuals with mental health issues very often don’t understand their situation and are not actively looking for help. Therefore first contacts have to be developed with a very low threshold in order to have sufficient reach. b) Pure digital offers have little lasting impact since adherence beyond the first steps is usually quite low. As a consequence, personal elements have to be built in at many stages in a patient journey. c) Therapeutical capacities are scarce and quality varies a lot. No service will succeed that does not provide effective and fast matching of therapist and client. - My MentalHealthCoach provides a seamless patient journey through the three stages of recognition, orientation and treatment (illustrated in the attached slide). a) Recognition: A freely available website provides accessible and reliable education on mental health as well as a simple online self-assement. The result of this assessment is used to introduce patients to the next stage. b) Orientation: Based on a digital anamnesis, a psychotherapist will identify a patients’ therapeutical needs and, jointly with the patient and reflecting his preferences, define the required therapeutic pathway. c) Treatment: Therapeutic options include digital solutions supported by a personal companion, the procurement of a suitable therapist or the provision of psychological coaching if these options do not match a person’s needs. Along the journey, targeted personal interventions ensure both sustainable adherence as well as a good fit between therapy and patient.

My MentalHealthCoach has been developed by Generali’s specialist company Generali Health Solutions, in close cooperation with Generali’s Health and Life insurers. The program will be introduced to the German market in May 2025. International versions will be launched in the course of 2025. It will be offered to individual insurance customers free of charge. Employers will be able to purchase the program for their employees.