Interview: Todd Lazar, President, Aetna International
Todd Lazar of Aetna International shares how closer integration with CVS Health and Aetna is bringing what matters most to globally mobile members and multinational organisations
What are some of the recent business developments happening at Aetna International that are making an impact in the market?
It’s an incredible time to be a part of this organisation. With a 170-year heritage and a track record of successfully serving global businesses for over 60 years, we’re continually looking for ways to best serve our clients, customers and members. In less than two years we’ve finalised two major decisions that have strengthened how we position ourselves in the international healthcare market.
Despite the value and breadth of available preventive services, adoption remains historically low
The first major decision was to enhance our global service delivery model in Europe, the Middle East, Africa (EMEA) and Asia-Pacific (APAC). This uniquely positions Aetna International for scale and sustainable long-term growth. It’s resulted in an improved experience for our members and plan sponsors while maintaining broad network access to care and support services in over 200 countries and territories worldwide. The second important decision was to closely integrate with CVS Health and Aetna.
By combining the strength of Aetna and the scale of CVS Health with the very best of our global benefits, we’re able to offer a unique, one-carrier solution. It’s a significant step up in our commitment to delivering high-quality, comprehensive healthcare solutions to multinational organisations and their employees.
As a result of your integration with CVS Health, what innovations are making the biggest impact on the experience of expatriates, inpatriates and other globally mobile workers?
We’re really excited about the new, integrated capabilities we’re bringing to the market. Our members have more benefits, more expert care, and more tools and resources to make navigating their unique health needs a whole lot more personal.
In the US, our definition of integration takes full advantage of the features and assets that only CVS and Aetna can deliver. So, think about a technology company sending employees to work in the US. It can be intimidating, and the US healthcare system is complex. That’s why we’ve launched products like our MinuteClinic benefit, which offers no cost or low-cost access to care at over 1,000 CVS store locations. It’s convenient, easy to access and ultra-affordable care for someone like a US inpat.
And, speaking of convenience, despite the value and breadth of available preventive services, adoption remains historically low. Our new CVS Virtual Primary Care is poised to help change that by giving members in the US a more convenient, flexible and connected experience. Better healthcare starts with a primary care provider, and these new approaches can make preventive and even urgent care more available to everyone. In EMEA and APAC we recently entered into a strategic partnership with leading global insurance brand Allianz Partners to expand our global direct pay network by over 20 per cent.
The healthcare industry today is undergoing a significant transformation
This has increased our global proposition and globally mobile members’ access to care in key countries such as Germany, France, Jordan, Lebanon, the UAE, Nigeria and Uganda. It shows what can happen when two companies with complementary strength, experience and scale come together. We built this partnership on trust, an aligned mission, and a demonstrated commitment to our customers and members.
When it comes to the global healthcare industry, from your vantage point, what changes are we facing?
The healthcare industry today is undergoing a significant transformation. One example is the consumer and plan sponsor demand for care model innovation. It’s that continual push for healthcare organisations to shift from reactive to proactive care models while optimising care delivery. Why? Because we need to increase efficiency, provide high-quality, virtual and in-person care, and not only meet but exceed member and patient expectations.
The Aetna International clinical team recognised this as a great opportunity to improve our International Care Management programme and how we deliver personalised case management to our globally mobile members. How it works is a single point of contact oversees each care plan and they’re backed by our integrated team of member advocates, nurses, pharmacists and dieticians. It’s multilingual, end-to-end clinical care management.
With 40 per cent of international assignments failing due to factors like poor pre-trip and repatriation planning, a lack of local support and family-related concerns, our care management team comes in early to set expats up for success with health, wellbeing and resilience support, rooted in clinical and cultural expertise.
Integration has also resulted in broadening our care model even further with cancer support from the Aetna personal navigator team. If included in their plan, members in the US diagnosed with cancer have access to precision medicine, personal navigators, clinical trial recommendations, lower cost of lower cost of care and instant prior authorisations.