In a recent interview with BW Healthcare World, Satish Kannan, CEO and Co-founder of MediBuddy, shared insights on the importance of growing employee wellness programs in corporate India. The discussion was based on a report titled "Mapping India's Corporate Health and Wellness Landscape," released by MediBuddy in collaboration with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), highlighting the significance of comprehensive wellness initiatives, employee burnout rates, and financial burdens on healthcare and productivity. The report revealed that 90 per cent of employees link comprehensive wellness initiatives to increased loyalty, yet only 24 per cent are satisfied with current offerings.
Journey: From IIT Madras to MediBuddy
Kannan's academic journey began at IIT Madras, where he earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in engineering. His professional career started at Philips Healthcare, focusing on cardiology and the design of catheterisation lab machines used in angioplasty. This experience gave him significant exposure to operating theatres, doctors, hospitals, and patients, sparking his deep interest in healthcare and technology.
Realising the impracticality of building hospitals in small towns due to high infrastructure costs and doctors' reluctance to relocate, Kannan explored digital solutions to improve healthcare accessibility. Drawing parallels with the success of digital banking in India, he envisioned a similar approach for healthcare. Today, MediBuddy connects patients from small towns with doctors via video calls, minimising disruption and costs, he stated.
Addressing the Digital Divide in Healthcare
Despite the digital divide in India, Kannan is optimistic about the growing accessibility of technology. He noted that most families have at least one tech-savvy young adult who handles digital tasks like booking appointments and paying bills. Affordable smartphones and internet plans enable families to access essential services like Aadhaar, healthcare, and education.
MediBuddy leverages digital infrastructure to connect healthcare providers with patients, ensuring accessibility and preventing misinformation. By prioritising patient needs and democratising medical knowledge, MediBuddy aims to enhance informed decision-making in healthcare, Kannan said.
Ensuring Trust and Quality in Digital Healthcare
Talking about ensuring trust and quality, Satish remarked that MediBuddy connects patients with doctors, labs, and pharmacies, supporting hospital admissions and insurance claims. To ensure quality and accessibility, the company follows a rigorous doctor onboarding process:
Certification Check: Verifying all MBBS or MD certificates.
Internal Interview: Senior doctors from MediBuddy's team assess new doctors' qualifications.
KYC: Conduct a thorough Know Your Customer process, verifying the doctor's practice location and other details.
By maintaining these rigorous checks, MediBuddy ensures that patients connect with credible and qualified doctors.
Surge in Employee Wellness Programs
The report highlights a surge in employee wellness program adoption. According to Kannan, several factors contribute to this trend:
Retention and Health Benefits: Post-COVID, companies recognised health as a priority, with health benefits being a crucial factor in employee retention after salary.
Flexible Health Programs: Different age groups have varying health needs, from gym memberships for 25-year-olds to diabetes and hypertension care for 45-year-olds.
Burnout and Healthcare Costs: Hybrid work and increased digital communication have led to higher stress and burnout, with rising healthcare costs being a burden on employees.
MediBuddy serves around 1,000 companies, including major firms like Infosys, TCS, IBM, Airtel, Jio, Tata Motors, Morgan Stanley, and JP Morgan, covering 4 million employees. The company provides flexible, self-choosing health services tailored to employees' diverse needs, Kannan noted.
Optimizing Healthcare Coverage for Employees and Their Families
MediBuddy’s report highlights a surge in employee wellness program adoption. Post-COVID, companies face high attrition rates and recognise health benefits as crucial for employee retention. Companies are now focusing on providing better health benefits, understanding that different age groups have different health needs. For example, 25-year-olds might prefer gym memberships, while 55-year-olds prioritize regular health check-ups and yoga.
The shift to hybrid work and increased digital communication have led to higher stress and burnout, and rising healthcare costs burden employees . MediBuddy serves around 1,000 companies, including major firms like Infosys, TCS, and IBM, covering 4 million employees. The platform provides flexible, self-choosing health services tailored to employees' diverse needs.
Kannan emphasised the importance of optimising healthcare coverage for employees and their families. “Most companies cover employees and their immediate families but not parents or in-laws. We recommend keeping the healthcare budget the same but allowing employees to use it flexibly,” he said. By focusing on outpatient (OPD) care and preventive healthcare, companies can enhance healthcare access without escalating costs.
Addressing the growing preference for extending wellness benefits to employees' dependents, Kannan suggests optimising healthcare coverage:
Coverage Criteria: Most companies cover employees and their immediate families but not parents or in-laws.
Flexible Budget Allocation: Keeping the healthcare budget the same but allowing employees to use it flexibly.
Engagement and Utilisation: Allowing younger employees to use their budget for their parents’ healthcare needs without increasing overall costs.
Focus on OPD: Emphasising outpatient (OPD) care over inpatient (IPD) care to reduce costs and address health issues early.
Balancing Work Hours and Ambitions
Addressing high burnout rates and discussions around longer work weeks, Kannan emphasised personal choice and context. He noted that extraordinary achievements often require extra effort, but not everyone needs to follow the same path. Work hours should align with personal goals and career objectives.
Ensuring Trust and Privacy in Digital Healthcare
Trust and privacy are fundamental in healthcare. Kannan stressed the importance of protecting healthcare data, similar to how banking details are safeguarded. He said MediBuddy ensures that employees’ healthcare records are private and only accessible to them, with companies receiving aggregated data for population analytics without access to individual health information. The platform adheres to strict data privacy regulations, ensuring confidentiality, he added.
Promoting Preventive Healthcare
MediBuddy is a strong proponent of preventive healthcare, promoting annual health checkups in large corporates. Kannan highlighted that preventive health checkups are crucial in detecting health issues early, reducing the need for costly treatments later. The platform's focus on preventive care helps in addressing health problems before they become severe.
Personalised Wellness Programs
To create more effective personalised wellness programs, Kannan suggests leveraging data to predict potential health issues based on factors such as age, gender, medical history, and job type. Using AI, MediBuddy tailors wellness programs to the individual level, offering customised recommendations.
Addressing Mental Health
Addressing the increasing cases of mental health issues, MediBuddy has taken significant initiatives to provide comprehensive support, Satish Kannan noted. MediBuddy is one of the largest psychology counseling platforms in the country, offering a vast range of mental health services. The platform bridges the gap in mental health support, especially in small towns, by providing chat and video consultations with psychologists and psychiatrists. Through these efforts, MediBuddy ensures comprehensive mental health support across the country
Future Trends in Corporate Wellness Programs
Kannan identified four key trends shaping the future of corporate wellness programs:
Flexibility: Offering choices that cater to different age groups within the same budget.
Technology-Driven Cashless Systems: Moving from reimbursements to cashless transactions.
Mental Health Focus: Addressing mental health issues post-COVID.
OPD Insurance: Emphasizing outpatient care for routine health issues.
Companies are increasingly investing in data analytics to identify health trends and needs. For example, data analysis in one company helped identify early cancer stages in six women, stressing the importance of preventive care and early detection.
Targeting the Digital Healthcare Market
Digital-enabled healthcare is projected to be a USD 30 billion market by 2030. Kannan noted that similar to other industries with leading digital players, healthcare is rapidly digitising post-COVID. MediBuddy is poised to become a significant player in healthcare, comparable to Flipkart, Ola, and Swiggy in their respective industries, within the next few years.
MediBuddy is at the forefront of transforming healthcare accessibility and employee wellness programs in corporate India. Through digital solutions, preventive care, personalised wellness programs, and a strong focus on mental health, MediBuddy is shaping the future of healthcare in the country, Kannan concluded.
