Medicash and EQL extend sector-first musculoskeletal healthcare partnership

In 2021, Medicash became the first cash plan provider to launch a self-care app for musculoskeletal (MSK) health treatment into the insurance market. Following a successful three year partnership with EQL, the app’s creators, Medicash will be extending the commercial relationship for a further three years.

Phio, an end-to-end MSK healthcare platform, will continue to be available on demand to all corporate policyholders on Medicash’s multi-award winning cash plan. Over half a million of Medicash’s policyholders  currently enjoy unlimited access to rapid clinical assessment of MSK injuries, personalised treatment recommendations, and tailored self-care support.

Accessible directly via the My Medicash app, Phio utilises clinically-developed algorithms to navigate over 3,000 scenarios and match patients with the most appropriate clinical support. Where appropriate, personalised MSK injury self-management support is made available to policyholders looking for an adjunct to traditional physiotherapy.  

The partnership renews at a time when the UK’s MSK crisis is increasingly taking a toll on population health and the national economy: 


• Recent Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures showed 2.9 million people had problems linked to their back or neck, up from 2.6 million in 2019.
• Almost a million people in the UK are too sick to work because of back or neck ailments, according to official data.
• The welfare bill for people with back problems alone has tripled in two decades, to £1.4bn a year.

The provision of a convenient route to MSK care is particularly valuable to policyholders at this current moment, as NHS community physiotherapy services face overwhelming demand and patients face lengthy wait times.

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Sue Weir, CEO at Medicash said:

“Since we launched our partnership with EQL three years ago, Medicash has expanded by 290,000 policyholders, won several prestigious industry awards, and helped improve health outcomes for many thousands of people.

“As a key innovator in our field, our readiness to partner with pioneering healthtech companies is integral to the popularity of our health  plan offering. Extending this partnership with EQL reflects our commitment to offering our customers technology which proactively supports health”. 


Jason Ward, co-founder and CEO at EQL said:

“Good musculoskeletal health is a core pillar of a person’s mental, physical and economic wellbeing, which is why rapid access to expert support in the case of injury is so important.

“We created Phio to connect as many people as possible with the right source of MSK treatment: as quickly as possible. Over the past three years, Phio has become a valued pillar of Medicash’s offering, and we’re very pleased that their policyholders will continue to be empowered with control over their MSK health and recovery.”