Revolutionizing Oral Care with Beam Connected Toothbrush and Insurance Plan

Beam Connected Toothbrush Snippet

Beam Technologies, a Columbus, Ohio start-up that introduced an Internet of Things (IoT) based toothbrush two years ago has launched a new dental insurance product leveraging technology and data from the toothbrush. It hopes to transform the dental insurance market by creating an insurance plan that includes giving its brush to customers to get better data and help keep premiums reasonable.

Beam’s new insurance plan that formally launched in August 2015 will be driven by an IoT toothbrush and accompanying app and will award dental-care discounts based on points patients generate by using their smart toothbrush in conjunction with a new membership program. Using sensors and Bluetooth technology, Beam designed a toothbrush that can log users’ brushing habits and send the data to a smart phone. The toothbrush sends data about how often and how long the user brushes to an app compatible with iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch (a software update will soon add the ability to tell users where they spent the most time brushing and the pressure used).The app can then offer feedback about where the user could do a better job. The system is also capable of comparing the brushing habits of a family and rewards those who do the best.

Alex Frommeyer, Beam’s CEO, explains that “the idea is to build a leaner insurance company using technology and data from the toothbrushes. The company also wants to provide policyholders with the essentials to keep their teeth in top shape.”To do this, Beam has developed its own line of dental floss and toothpaste that it will ship customers every quarter and hopes to reduce the cost of premiums by up to 25 percent.

Although Beam’s dental plan may not make a big dent in existing players’ market share, it’s a development that showcases how product innovation will shape up in the emerging IoT world.

What’s exciting about Beam Dental

=>Beams insurance cost – Beam’s policy costs about $30 a month for the average person in Ohio, and it follows a 100-80-50 model. Beam covers 100% of preventive services such as cleanings and X-rays, 80% of basic services such as cavity fillings and 50% of major procedures such as root canals. It's a common model for dental insurers but potentially exposes patients to hefty out-of-pocket bills for the major procedures. 

=>Extra perks - Beam's plan includes an extra perk: toothpaste, floss and replacement brush heads for the smart toothbrush are shipped to members every three months. Beam essentially eliminates the need for consumers to shop for oral care products at big box retailers, and they also tailor to the needs of individual beneficiaries. For example, someone with sensitive teeth could receive specific toothpaste for that condition—all of which can be completed through the app.

=>Beam’s Motivation for launching dental insurance - According to Beam, over 100 million American adults live without dental insurance, as it is often considered a benefit reserved for the employed. Beam also pointed out how the Affordable Care Act barely addresses oral hygiene, adding to the reasons for Beam’s latest initiative. Providing insurance has always been a part of Beam’s plan as they saw a lack of innovation in the dental insurance space. With the new group dental insurance, Beam aims to reinvent how the market works.

=>Beam brush internals - “The brush is equipped with an internal timing mechanism and six-axis motion sensor that records every brushing event. Also, the Beam Brush has an internal memory that stores around three months of brushing events without syncing via Bluetooth. Once synced, the data is stored on a secure, HIPPA-compliant server.”

=>Data related classism - Beam’s group insurance program and Beam Perks raise an important question around the future of insurance regarding the manner in which data is collected, and how consumers are treated as a result of that data. Some would say we’re entering an era of data-related classism for better or worse, where consumers receive different insurance rates based on data from smart homes, connected cars, wearables, etc. As far as Beam is concerned, data-related insurance incentives are just part of the solution.

=>Unlike traditional insurance that focuses exclusively on in-clinic prevention, Beam takes insurance into user's homes. Beam's members get the smart toothbrush and smart phone app, as well as a digital copy of their insurance card. Companies who use the plan can also combine Beam insurance with Beam Perks, another new service that delivers a replacement toothbrush head, floss, and toothpaste to users every three months.

=>Features and benefits of Beam include: 

• Beam’s nationwide network represents 200,000 access points in all 50 states.

• Beam offers a group dental insurance plan equal to or better than anything on the market, along with Beam Perks, all for the same price or often less than the cost of coverage alone.

• Beam has digitized enrolment, creating new efficiencies and allowing HR professionals to spend little to no time managing the on boarding process.

• Beam Perks streamlines the process of getting the goods needed for great dental health with quarterly shipments of toothpaste, floss, and replacement toothbrush heads.

• Every detail from the curvature of the brush handle to the taste of our toothpaste, to our welcome packet for new members, is designed to improve the user experience of dental care.

• Beam helps drive culture in the workplace and at home with a set of differentiated benefits the whole team will love.

=> Beam are ahead of the IOT curve in bringing senors and software to healthcare as opposed to easier to scale industries such as connected homes and telematics.

References for additional reading

Links –

http://www.beam.dental/

http://fortune.com/2015/06/26/connected-toothbrush-insurance/

http://www.digitaltrends.com/home/beam-technologies-introduces-dental-insurance-with-its-smart-toothbrush/

http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20150825/NEWS/150829929

http://siliconangle.com/blog/2015/08/25/smart-toothbrush-launches-insurance-plan-new-perks-for-hygiene/

http://www.drbicuspid.com/index.aspx?sec=ser&sub=def&pag=dis&ItemID=318473

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2015/08/prweb12920648.htm