WellNewMe has introduced an employee health benefits management platform which streamlines the process of enrolling, managing, and paying for employees’ health benefits.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that WellNewMe is a health technology company that works with governments, businesses, civil society and local communities to improve population health.
This helps to reduce costs and losses associated with non-communicable diseases such as cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and hypertension among others.
Dr Obi Igbokwe, Co-Founder/Chief Executive Officers, WellNewMe, said on Wednesday in Lagos that the technology-driven platform provided employers with a full suite of innovative features.
According to him, some of the features include a personalised and streamlined wellbeing service for employees, an intuitive dashboard for HR professionals, and a robust analytics portal for executives.
Igbokwe said he saw the need for a more user-friendly approach to the management of employee wellbeing to boost productivity as figures showed that chronic illness, stress, depression, and anxiety were increasingly affecting employee wellbeing.
“This is happening at a time when businesses are striving harder than ever for efficiency and productivity.
“According to a WHO report released in 2019, the productivity cost of ill health in Nigeria is over US$ 879 billion a year.
“ Based on the report findings, on average, a Nigerian employee costs his or her company approximately US$4,000 (₦1,700,000) a year in lost productivity due to ill health.
“Yet, according to Global Wellness Institute, only one per cent of African employees have access to any employee wellbeing programme, as compared to more than 50 per cent in North America.’’
He said: “This initiative, which is the start of WellNewMe’s broader objective of catering to the full spectrum of employee and community wellbeing through its platform: physical, mental, and emotional, aims to address this.
“The platform is designed to simplify the way employees of any corporate entity in Nigeria can enroll for and manage their health benefits, as well as to gain insight into their overall health and wellness.
“ The goal behind this service is that it should be accessible to all employees, regardless of what cadre they are in their corporation.
“In this ‘do more with less’ age employees often find it hard to take on other activities outside work, let alone incorporate them into their daily routines.
“ So, it is often a challenge for organisations to increase employees’ engagement in activities that not only protect their health but provide the right tools to prevent ill health by boosting their productivity.’’
According to Igbokwe, the WellNewMe platform addresses four primary issues employers and employees face in the current healthcare environment.
They include high costs, employee engagement, lack of transparency at the point-of-service and administrative burdens associated with plan administration.
“In midst of limited resources when it comes to the provision of adequate quality health services in Nigeria, it’s becoming evident that our way forward is increasing the availability and accessibility of digital preventive health services.
“Which have been proven around the world to reduce the implementation of more costly interventions and treatments down the line.
“We have carried out several pilots over the last 3 years with several corporates, so we are acutely aware of the benefits our platform can provide and how much it is needed.
“There is now ample evidence available that shows that employers who demonstrate and implement measures to actively protect and improve the health of their most valuable asset – their employees are usually the ones that perform the best.
“While our official launch will focus on corporates, we also intend to introduce our services into the wider community,” Igbokwe said.
(NAN)
