GreenShield to revolutionize Canadian health care and benefits with personalized, integrated solution unlike any other

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Imagine this: You wake up sweating. Head pounding, heart racing. You roll over, grab your phone and open your app. You connect with a doctor who addresses you by name. To alleviate your discomfort, she prescribes medication and the app’s pharmacy delivers it to your front door. A pharmacist is available to answer your questions. After addressing immediate pain relief, the doctor identifies the root cause of your symptoms as stress-related. The app matches you to a therapist, and there’s no need to repeat your story because it’s already in the system. The therapist shares coping mechanisms and refers you to an online cognitive behavioural therapy program you can access from the app whenever you want, to build resilience. You go back to bed knowing the app is fully integrated with your benefits plan so there’s no paperwork, and you are automatically reimbursed for all sources of funding your plan provides. It’s a health-care experience built around your needs.

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Sound too good to be true? It’s not. It’s GreenShield+.

Twenty-first century problems in health care require twenty-first century solutions. GreenShield, Canada’s only national not-for-profit insurer, is announcing a first-of-its-kind digital health and benefits ecosystem, launching later this year. The GreenShield+ app will offer streamlined, connected care, fully integrated with its benefits plans. Powered by Google Cloud and Microsoft, GreenShield+ is establishing a new standard of care.

“As a not-for-profit social enterprise focused on championing better health for all, improving access to health care is rooted in GreenShield’s DNA. As Canadians’ needs have evolved, we have continued to innovate, evolving our offerings and services to deliver on our social mission,” says president & CEO, Zahid Salman. “We know Canadians want to take control of their health, but face challenges accessing and navigating the health system. Canadians are looking for access, convenience, better integration and improved health outcomes.”

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One in five Canadians don’t have a family physician, and for those who do, immediate care is not guaranteed. In fact, one in three Canadians can’t get in to see their doctor within a week. Over the past 30 years, the average wait time between referral and treatment has increased almost 300 per cent. That has led to frustration among Canadians who face barriers to care for seasonal allergies and asthma, to mental health support and everything in between.

The development of GreenShield+ is rooted in patient insight and pain points experienced every day. One-year into the pandemic, the percentage of Canadians accessing virtual care grew from three to 75 per cent. When it comes to efficiency, 61 per cent of Canadians wish that every time they talk to a health-care practitioner, they don’t have to re explain their condition and 60 per cent wish they could have access to all health-care services they need in one place. GreenShield created GreenShield+ to directly address these patient needs.

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This game-changing innovation hails from Canada’s only payer-provider. As a “payer,” GreenShield has a long history of offering insurance, administering benefits and paying claims; and now, as a “provider,” GreenShield also delivers a variety of health-care services such as mental health, telemedicine and pharmacy. Integrating both sides of the payer-provider equation enables GreenShield to simplify access to care, remove administrative barriers and improve health outcomes for its customers.

GreenShield Cares for underserved communities

This innovation isn’t the social impact brand’s only differentiator. Through GreenShield Cares, GreenShield reinvests its earnings and self-funds the deployment of its wholly owned health services to underserved communities. GreenShield Cares’ Women’s Mental Health (offering free mental health services to women) and Oral Health (funding research about the importance of oral health on overall health, and on delivering dental care to low earners) programs are two examples of the social impact that GreenShield’s payer-provider model is enabling. The organization has already helped over 35,000 underserved Canadians access free dental care and, in just over a year, it has helped nearly 60,000 women access free mental health support.

“Our evolved payer-provider model allows us to significantly expand the scope and reach of our work with GreenShield Cares and our goal is to invest $75 million to improve the lives of at least one million Canadians by 2025,” says Salman.

GreenShield is setting the new standard of care and delivering innovative solutions that Canadians crave.

This story was provided by GreenShield for commercial purposes.