Vitality EAP overview

‍

Vitality is one of the newer EAPs and rolled out its offering in 2014. Already they cover around 1.8 million members in the UK.

‍

What distinguishes Vitality from other health insurance EAPs is their focus on proactive health. At the core of their EAP is the Vitality Programme which is designed to incentivise a healthy lifestyle. One popular example is giving employees free coffee when they hit a certain step count.

‍

Based on Trustpilot reviews, Vitality does seem to have a stricter triaging process than other EAPs with more employees being denied care. Employees must also pay upfront for treatment and then submit claims after being treated which is different from other private medical insurers who approve treatment upfront so the member does not need to pay out of pocket in the interim.

Counselling on Vitality

‍

The Vitality EAP does offer employees counselling sessions on the platform. Included by default in the ‘core’ offering is up to 8 sessions of counselling with a clinician.

‍

However the process for accessing these sessions is stricter than on other similar EAPs. Members cannot apply for sessions on the platform without clinician approval. This can be from the GP or another clinician and self-referral without a clinician is not possible.

‍

If approved for treatment, Vitality is also less flexible around who their members can talk to. They have a pre-selected group of clinicians that they work with and members cannot request to speak to someone specific.

Other services on Vitality

‍

Integrations

Vitality does not currently offer any integrations for either employees or admins. Employees must visit the Vitality portal to access and admins must manage their plan from there as well.

‍

Confidentiality

Vitality is a confidential service. Company admins will not know which employees are using the platform. They will know at the end of the plan if their plan costs increase but this is always at the aggregate level.

Best reviews for Vitality

‍

Rewards are excellent

One of the key differentiators for Vitality is their rewards scheme which gives members free coffees and other treats for healthy living. This gets a lot of shoutouts in reviews.

‍

Great customer service

When contacting Vitality customer service, members generally have a very positive experience and get the help they need quickly. Many of customer service team members are explicitly mentioned in reviews.

Bad reviews for Vitality

‍

App does not work

There are numerous complaints about the Vitality app not working including one saying it was stopping them from using the rewards system entirely. Worringingly, the app does appear to be getting worse over time.

‍

Getting approved takes a long time

The process of getting treatment approved is lengthy even when members have the correct documents and clinician sign off. Needless to say, this has caused a number of upset reviews.

When comparing Vitality to other EAPs provided by health insurers, they stand out for two reasons. Firstly, they start at £27 per employee which is cheaper than any public pricing provided by other health insurers. Secondly, they focus on a proactive approach to employee wellbeing with rewards for healthy living (i.e. you get a free coffee if you have a high step count). These rewards are frequently mentioned in positive reviews.

‍

On the other hand, accessing these rewards can be difficult as there are many reports of the app not working for weeks on end. Another watchout when buying Vitality is the strict process employees must follow in order to access sessions. Unlike other EAPs, employees must get a clinician’s approval before accessing counselling and the process is lengthy.

‍

If you are looking for EAPs do not require any clinician approval before accessing care, try one of the other top 5 EAPs.