The H+ Digital Health Innovation Programme lays special emphasis on 5 health verticals along the patient journey, embracing the strategic priorities of the ITHM community. Rodrigo Perez, Head of Claims Health Insurance at Münchener Verein, takes us through the role of insurers in their employees’ and customers’ fitness journey, giving us his insights on fitness and workplace health.
The transformation of the insurers from payors to healthcare partners involves engaging users at the core driver of health and wellbeing: fitness and workplace health. It is common knowledge that fitness and regular physical activity are proven to improve overall health and reduce risks of chronic conditions and the workplace may constitute a perfect access point for insurers to support their customers’ healthy lifestyles.
With the Great Resignation wave showing its first signs in Europe and the increase of workers leaving their jobs in search of better conditions, employers are also looking for solutions to further support their employees in their health journey and keep them motivated and engaged. As a result, the workplace may prove to be the perfect entry point for the insurers to come in either as partners for corporate health or as users themselves.
Fitness and workplace health solutions have matured over the last years from being pure lifestyle support to data-driven and highly engaging solutions, achieving measurable health results.
We have asked Rodrigo Perez, Head of Claims Health Insurance at Münchener Verein to discuss with us the role of insurers as partners in the fitness journey of employees and clients.
What are current challenges in the healthcare journey when it comes to fitness and workplace health?
The pandemic situation has significantly increased the home office rate. The reduction in physical activity due to the loss of commuting alone can lead to a significant deterioration of physical fitness. The psychological stress caused by the pandemic and by the more difficult separation of work and private life represents a further risk factor in the work-life balance.
How can insurers support their employees and customers in their fitness journey?
Especially with digital offerings and solutions, customers and employees can be better reached and supported in this changed environment.
What are the trends in fitness and workplace health solutions and what are you looking for?
The provider market is growing at a rapid pace. The decisive factor, however, is having an idea which enables the customer/employee to do something for their health also in the long term. This only works if it is attractively designed, intuitive to use, and is also fun and rewarding to join.
For our H+ Digital Health Innovation Programme, we have selected the following startups which support customers in their fitness and healthcare journey:
Aktivolabs Pte is a digital health platform for financial institutions to measure real-time chronic disease risk of populations and drive meaningful engagement at scale with customers about health and longevity. Aktivolabs supports insurance, reinsurance, banks, and corporations to understand their clients’ health in real-time.
Fisify creates a virtual assistant powered by artificial intelligence that offers an indicative diagnosis that allows patients (from the moment they get injured until they recover) to start relieving these injuries before their appointments with physiotherapists.
HealthCaters offers its preventive care solution that empowers employees to take control of their health. The solution is a health kiosk in the office that is connected to a digital health management platform.
Lab4Life calculates users’ longevity with a gamification program customised to the users’ lifestyles. The users get habituated to healthy habits and advance further in the game by earning points & coins.
Join us on April 6th for our H+ Digital Health Innovation Programme Final Showcase, “Health X Insurance”, for innovative startups pitches and discussions on digital health solutions with our community of insurers, tech companies and cross-industry players. Register here.
Text: Gaia Ravazzi