Digital healthcare delivery will frame the future of workplace wellbeing
Technology has revolutionised every aspect of our world, making our lives easier and helping us be more productive. In the workplace today digital propositions must continue to evolve to suit the needs of the workforces of tomorrow, providing us with the tools do our jobs and supporting employees with their day-to-day lives. These simple digital solutions must marry well with traditional and new healthcare services, helping keep employees healthy, engaged and in work.
Employee wellbeing is key to culture
The Covid-19 pandemic taught us that investing in employee wellbeing is a key part of any organisation’s culture. Done properly, this can offer the added benefits of attracting and retaining staff and addressing the issue of sickness absence.
Offering people fast, direct, remote access to trained clinicians, such as GPs, physiotherapists and mental health professionals can help tackle some of the major causes of sickness absence before people actually go off sick.
Because digital healthcare services can provide access to treatment sooner than is often the case given current NHS waiting lists, employees get the benefit of early intervention, which can be crucial in improving health outcomes. With Unum's 2020 Achieving Work/Health balance survey of 2,031 full-time UK employees finding that 77% saying their productivity had been impacted by waiting for a GP appointment, this is good news for employers too.
We believe the next generation of digital wellbeing solutions should contain that wraparound mixture of preventative care alongside these more reactive treatment options. Solutions which give employees the tools to understand and manage their own health, and to take charge of their own wellbeing, such as nutrition and fitness advice, and the chance to deep dive into the four key pillars of physical, mental, social and financial health.
Digital wellbeing apps working with the NHS
And there is no doubt it is definitely a difficult time for the NHS. At the heart of the problem is a shortage of GPs; the workforce decreased by 4% between 2017 and 2022, while the patient population has only grown. NHS staff have quit or reduced their working hours amid intense work pressures exacerbated by the pandemic.
It is in this area that digital innovations can begin to work together with the NHS, to the benefit of both parties. As an example, Unum's Help@hand app has a facility which enables remote GPs to share the details of a patient’s consultation with their own NHS GP. With the patient’s permission, the remote GP securely sends the encrypted notes to the surgery via the NHS’s own system, NHS Spine. So, for instance, if the remote GP determines the patient needs a blood test, they can flag this with the patient’s NHS GP for wider NHS investigations, without the patient actually having to see their own GP.
Management information on workforce health trends
Monitoring employee engagement with digital services can give employers valuable insight into usage patterns and workforce trends. HR professionals can use these insights to shape their wider employee benefits offering, better aligning their wellbeing strategy, services and resources with what their employees actually need — as well as tracking shifts that will shape their future benefits offerings. Enthusiastic employers should note that a balance must be found between acquiring the information and opportunity to make the biggest positive impact on individual employees’ lives, and respecting their employees’ privacy and right to medical confidentiality. For example, the report from Unum’s app is only available when 50 or more employees have booked a consultation.
Successful digital health delivery
Positive user experiences along with simple, easy customer journeys are critical to engagement, so streamlining more services under one roof is increasingly vital to ensure successful digital health and wellbeing delivery in the workplace. There’s definitely much to be said for the ‘one stop shop’ approach.
Message from Unum
Recognising the demand for these valuable services among employers, and seeing the benefit for employees and wider society, we at Unum have recently announced the transformation of our health and wellbeing app, Help@hand. From 3 April 2023, users will have a fully integrated and seamless customer experience with new services including wellbeing assessments, lifestyle coaching and personal training in one easy-to-use app, all provided by Square Health.
Find out more about Unum’s latest digital transformations
