Introducing the YuScore: the first AI-powered health and wellbeing metric that predicts businesses’ risk profiles

The YuScore is an AI-powered metric that provides a dynamic, real-time assessment of a business’s health and wellbeing profile. 

With YuScore in place, companies that are customers of YuLife can gain insights into their risk profiles based on employee engagement in daily healthy activities.

The YuLife app tracks and rewards users for participating in everyday wellbeing activities such as walking and meditation. These lifestyle metrics are then used to calculate the YuScore – which is powered by a proprietary machine learning algorithm that uses demographic, biometric, and socioeconomic factors to calculate a business’s risk level.

Want to find out more about the YuScore? Speak to our team here.

Why did we create the YuScore? 

1) The availability of more granular health data

Wearables are enabling more sophisticated measurements of health data. Today, wearables track daily steps, sleep activity, VO2 max levels and even resting heart rates. These datasets, when combined, can enable healthcare practitioners to make observations and recommendations about various aspects of the user’s wellbeing.

Research and think tanks predict that consumer wearable data will play a key role in disease prevention and the future of healthcare—in which data from these wearables is used to support preventive approaches and overall patient wellness. 

The global wearable market is expected to grow from around US$35 billion in 2020 to nearly US$115 billion by 2028.

Where does insurance come into the picture, then?

Traditionally, insurance has relied on managing risk based on static historical data. However, with the rise of AI and wearable technology making it easy to gather real-time wellbeing insights, it’s now possible for this risk to be assessed in a more dynamic, accurate and proactive way.

2) The growing openness of customers to share their data in exchange for insight

Whatsmore, a growing number of consumers would be willing to exchange this data if incentivised correctly and if data is handled by the right party. 

In fact, according to GlobalData’s 2022 UK Insurance Consumer Survey: 

• 47% of people would be open to using wearable technology to help them lead healthier lives.
• Only 29.1% of consumers say they would be reluctant to share their data. 

Where do life insurers come into the picture, then?

As we know, insurance claims are only made at the point of death or illness. And given that more than 80% of chronic illness today is down to lifestyle factors – in other words, 4 in every 5 cases of chronic disease and premature death can be prevented by adhering to a healthy lifestyle – there is clearly shared value economics in people sharing their data with life and health insurers to help them live better.

3) The rise in insurance premiums

Then, there comes the rise in how much companies pay for life insurance, i.e. premiums, which tend to increase when people are sicker, and when claims increase.

Given the sharp increase in claims post-pandemic, it’s no wonder that premiums have been on the rise. U.S. life insurers paid more than $90 billion to beneficiaries in 2020, a 15.4% increase in payments compared to 2019. In 2021, payouts to beneficiaries increased by a further 11%, jumping to over $100 billion.

Of course, the fact that companies need to bear the brunt of this increase means that many are looking for long-term solutions to try to reverse this (seemingly irreversible) trend.

4)The growing importance of wellbeing

With research released on how employee wellbeing affects business performance and even share price, companies are doubling down on wellbeing as a business priority.

And, like all business priorities, this has been accompanied by the rise in wanting to meaningfully quantify, measure and track what was previously seen as intangible. Which is where the demand for wellbeing data comes from.

Traditionally, insurance has relied on managing risk based on static historical data. However, with the rise of AI and wearable technology making it easy to gather real-time wellbeing insights, it’s now possible for this risk to be assessed in a more dynamic, proactive way.

What does the YuScore mean for businesses?

1) They can measure what matters and benchmark against others in their industry

The rating system, which rates businesses from 0 (high-risk) to 100 (low-risk), satisfies the growing demand for data-driven wellbeing programmes and enables businesses to assess their performance in comparison to others with similar profiles (business size, industry type, and age distribution).

2) They can report their wellbeing with greater accuracy

The YuScore is set to transform YuLife customers’ ability to measure the impact of their wellbeing initiatives dynamically and accurately, which is vital to demonstrate how much tangible value a healthy workforce has for an organisation.

3) They can move from a reactive to a preventative space

By continuously monitoring and measuring employee health trends, businesses are empowered with insights into the success of their current wellbeing strategies and can take preventative measures before issues escalate.

4) They can move from retrospective to predictive reporting 

While measurements in the past have analysed the success of past initiatives, this behavioural forecasting model offers predictive insights into employee health and wellbeing, enabling businesses to come up with proactive, data-driven strategies to mitigate health and business risk. 

Once trends are identified, customers will receive targeted recommendations based on their YuScore data to bolster the health of their workforce and prevent illness. They can then double down on strategies they consider to have the most leverage over their wellbeing score.

Publications talking about the YuScore:

1. Health & Protection
2. Fintech Finance News
3. COVER magazine
4. Life Insurance International
5. Life Insurance International’s analysis piece

Want to find out more about the YuScore? Speak to our team here.

FAQs

Is the YuScore available to everyone?

Customers of YuLife who have 6 months' worth of data with us will be able to get their YuScore reports. 

What exactly is being forecasted?

The YuScore is forecasted for a client for the next 3 months. Telling businesses what actions can be taken over the next quarter to improve employee health and wellbeing.

There are two forecasts: one at current engagement levels (average of the previous 3 months) and one at recommended engagement levels (derived from statistical modelling or Bayesian Optimization) to improve their YuScore. The suggested changes are then ordered in terms of actionability. 

Where can I find my company’s YuScore?

YuLife customers can contact their CSM to get their company’s YuScore report and access the tailored wellbeing recommendations that will help them to decrease health risk today.