TAL has partnered with virtual healthcare provider, Teladoc Health, to offer additional mental health support to its customers.
Initially offered to a select group of TAL’s advised customers and customers with insurance through superannuation, ‘Mental Health Assist’ will be available for eligible TAL customers on claim with a mental health condition, the insurer says in a statement.
Dr Priya Chagan, TAL General Manager, Health Services says that ‘Mental Health Assist’ improves customers’ mental health outcomes by fast-tracking access to a team of multidisciplinary mental health experts tailored to the customer’s situation.
“Leading psychologists and psychiatrists can conduct a review of the customer’s mental health via video conferencing and provide detailed treatment plans.”
She notes that one of the insights from TAL’s White Paper on Mental Health and Life Insurance was that access to mental health support in Australia is stretched, meaning that the number of psychiatrists available for Australia’s population is low compared to other developed countries.
“…this can lead to long waiting times for expert care, which can have an adverse impact on a person’s recovery journey. Through ‘Mental Health Assist’, eligible TAL customers will be able to access the mental health care they need in only nine days, with a tailored team of experts to support them and their recovery journey.”
Glenn Baird, TAL Head of Mental Health, says ‘Mental Health Assist’ has been designed by Teladoc Health for the Australian life insurance market “…and it has been delivering outstanding outcomes for the past two years. It has had some great success in improving patient mental health outcomes, seeing up to a 68 percent improvement in depression symptoms within three months and improved work attendance and productivity for patients who return to work.”
Earlier this month MetLife Australia announced its own intitiative with Teladoc Health which will see the expansion of its 360Health program.
