Leading French independent health insurer Alan has teamed up with data security company Tanker to bring end-to-end encryption to its telehealth chat platform. The service is the first telehealth chat platform available to the general public that is end-to-end encrypted.

WHY IT MATTERS

The Alan app links users with associated doctors through a messaging service or video-consultations, which enable users to access quality medical care quickly while the platform handles all reimbursements. 

Through the partnership with Tanker, Alan is ensuring its digital healthcare has the same dedication to doctor-patient confidentiality as in-person healthcare. Utilising technology previously reserved for messaging apps such as WhatsApp and iMessage or restricted to certain operating systems as with Apple Health, the data shared through the chat service is encrypted so it is only accessible to the user and the medical team. 

This gives Alan’s 115,000 users total control over their personal medical data. 

Dr Pierre-Auguste Beaucoté, a general practitioner with Alan, praised the innovation: “Complete observance of doctor-patient confidentiality and ensuring the maximum level of security for patients who use our telehealth platform is primordial. With client-side encryption, only doctors can access the content of medical conversations. The contrary would have been unthinkable.”

THE LARGER TREND

France has seen a major increase in the usage of teleconsultations as a result of the pandemic, going from 35,000 visits during the month of February 2020 to an average of 400,000 teleconsultations a week since April 2020.

As the pandemic has pushed telehealth into the mainstream, security and privacy have been a top priority, particularly as these services become integrated into the norm of healthcare post-pandemic. Recently, Singapore-based start-up Doctor Anywhere launched end-to-end encrypted mental health video-consultations to provide enhanced privacy for a stigmatised sector of healthcare. 

ON THE RECORD

Charles Gorintin, Alan's co-founder and CTO, commented: “The protection of privacy is a concern for all users of internet services. It is even more so in the case of healthcare. Alan is investing in technology so that everyone can benefit from the very best care with complete peace of mind.”

Clément Ravouna, co-founder and CEO of Tanker, added: “Without doctor-patient confidentiality, there would be no digitisation of healthcare. Alan's vision will hugely simplify our relationship with healthcare in the years to come. We are proud to go forward with them and provide them with the infrastructure they need to make their platform secure.”