Consumers love a good product bundle: Consolidation is convenient, it drives revenue, and in today's tech-saturated world, it is in high demand. But is it possible to bundle and personalize healthcare?
McKinsey research shows that 60% of consumers are more likely to become repeat customers after a personalized experience. In the increasingly intermingled worlds of
"Being able to help [employees] with their mental health, their physical health, and with their general preventative health care is an important part of helping them be more effective," says Chris Michalak, CEO of digital health platform Virgin Pulse. "There's a great give and take relationship between what the employer gets out of that and what the employee gets out of it."
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Virgin Pulse is just one organization looking to streamline the user experience with benefits by creating access to an "ecosystem" of partners across the health and wellness spectrum on one platform. As more choices in healthcare become available to employers, it can be overwhelming to choose which ones will have the most impact. The mentality of "less is more" may apply to the number of
Employers' motivation for seeing these offerings succeed with their workforce goes beyond the hope of increased productivity. It's an investment on behalf of the employer, says Michalak, and when successful, is something that can affect the overall culture of a workforce. An important element for today's businesses, he adds, is that regardless of the company size or workforce location, companies can create connectivity across the entire employee population.
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"When people are experiencing better healthcare, they talk about it," he says. "We have the ability to connect people, so we're actually building culture as a part of the platform. You can get into different types of competitions or challenges and invite friends and family, and it suggests that the company really cares about these items at the same time."
Giving a workforce access to a platform with a variety of resources — from simple medication reminders to more supportive and interactive options such as weight loss coaching — means a holistic approach that only requires employees to enter their health information in one place. Michalak points to comorbidities as an
"You start to deal with the whole person, wherever they are in their healthcare journey," he says. "We like to say that we show up in the moments that matter most, and those moments can be preventative, closing gaps, helping people form good habits. We have very high engagement with the 14 million people who have access to our platform. It's mostly preventative in its approach, so when they do have an acute issue that does require navigation, we already have a relationship of trust."
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As healthcare discussions continue to evolve within the workplace, Michalak says, employers are seeking better solutions for their workforce.
"What the employer marketplace is saying to us is, 'Can you make it easier for us and for our members to navigate the complexities of healthcare,'" he says. "At our core, that's what we're trying to do. To make it simpler means to be in every part of the journey, and that will get you better healthcare outcomes."
