Digital Health Assistant: A modern approach to track employee health

Most corporate professionals, and people in general, face difficulty in taking care of their own health.

This is due to the fact that many people are not very good at remembering to take their medications in a timely manner, following treatment protocols set by the doctor, or scheduling follow-ups with the doctor in a timely manner. This inability to keep track of one's health needs shows that new tools and services are necessary to help manage their health better in the future. Thus, the need for Digital Health Assistants.

A Digital Health Assistant is an easy-to-use and customized guide to help corporate professionals retake control of their health. These tools act as confidential trackers and reminders for medications, health data, updated medical reports, diets and nutritional information, and symptoms of illnesses – all on one convenient wellness platform.

The current state of health tracking and management

Keeping track of one's well-being and navigating the confusing maze of medical services is hard for representatives across the world. This is due to the various moving parts, such as -

• Multiple associates - Doctors, pharmacies, diagnostic centres, medical clinics, insurance providers etc.;
• The complexity of medical care - Emergency situations vs chronic health cases;
• Types of service providers - Specialized and sub-specialized; and
• Rules and conventions of medical care

Hence, medical care is hard to comprehend for most corporate professionals.

According to a poll conducted by The Harris Poll in 2020, 62% of employees find the healthcare system to be confusing by design, while 67% of the respondents reported feeling overwhelmed by the sheer number of health-related information they have to keep track of.

Unsurprisingly, when people feel overwhelmed, their efficiency at keeping track of their health and following necessary steps declines as well. Here are a few statistics from multiple studies to illustrate this:

• 80% of employees are unable to understand the instructions provided with the medication
• 55% of patients with chronic illnesses miss or neglect treatment within the first year
• 20% of patients experience complications from their disease within 3 weeks of being discharged from the hospital
• 50% of employees with healthcare needs avoid seeking help due to either difficulty or other priorities.

The modern-day digital health revolution

As of 2019, there were more than 4,00,000 digital healthcare apps and 720 million health-tracking wearable devices! In the modern age, the future of health is smarter, more customized, and always-on, with digitally interconnected networks that monitor and warn the user before things get complicated.

The importance of employee health

Employee health and well-being are the cornerstones of any business. After all, providing health benefits to employees and helping them stay in the best of health leads to higher productivity for the organization.

The digital health revolution gives employers the capability to provide the tools to employees to start taking better steps toward engaging with and improving their health. Modern tools help employers educate employees on the need for well-being more efficiently.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is a Digital Health Assistant?

A Digital Health Assistant is an amalgamation of various health services under a single umbrella.

• It can be an app for your employees to download and use on their smartphones.
• It can be a health assistant for keeping track of health services from different healthcare providers.
• It can be a health coach that educates the user on their health needs.
• It can be a precautionary guide that helps users understand the necessary risks of different medications.
• It can be a "health journey diary" for monitoring medical history, information and symptoms of diseases to share with medical professionals.
• Most importantly, it can be a method for employees to take charge of their health.
• It helps corporate professionals by bringing together a multitude of services and dimensions of health to one convenient place, i.e. information about medications, medical conditions, diagnostic data, nutritional information, and disease symptoms.

2. What is the importance of a personalized health assistant?

Managing one's health is more important than ever before today. However, many corporate professionals simply do not have the time, expertise or energy to track their health needs regularly. A personalized health assistant will help fill this need gap, as it helps users accurately track health information, and as mentioned above, also fulfils multiple other aspects of managing one's health in the long term.

3. Why do employees need a digital health assistant?

Regardless of the industry, a healthy workforce translates into a more productive and efficient workplace. This in turn leads to higher organizational productivity and is better for business across the board. Keeping all of these benefits in mind, it would be in everyone's best interest for employees of all companies to have a personalized and holistic digital health assistant.

In closing

A healthy workforce is a productive workforce. In the modern age, there are various tools available to employers that can help employees maintain their health and well-being. A digital health assistant removes the common barriers that usually stop corporate professionals from keeping track of their health. Hence, a personalized digital health assistant is one of the most exciting new tools available to create a healthier workplace today and in the future.

Schedule a demo to learn how your organisation can get the best employee health and well-being experience with ekincare's commitment to quality.