Medical advances have significantly improved existing medical practice and will continue do so in the future. Such developments will not only bring benefits for clinicians and patients, but also opportunities and challenges for insurers adapting their business models to the ongoing progress in medicine. Amid increasing concerns on its affordability, medical advances may also prove demanding to society. In this regard, the insurer’s societal role will gain even more importance.
This position paper of the Emerging Risk Initiative (ERI) of the CRO Forum aims at providing an overview of upcoming medical advances and the aspects that insurers need to consider in order to be prepared. The focus is put on those advances that prevent, diagnose or cure disease. The CRO Forum identifies three key drivers in future healthcare: personalized medicine, a general change in emphasis from treatment to prevention and the empowerment of patients. It is vital for insurers to understand the impact of upcoming medical advances, evaluate and price the risk in a reasonable way, and at the same time retain customers’ trust.