Is all well?

What is the CXO and CIO community in India looking forward to? In such stressful times, this is difficult to answer. However the prime priority after reaching this point of their respective careers would be, of course, to better their own and their employees' health. Organizations too are making efforts to be in the know of the health of their topline.

Major causes in the IT industry that keep employees' health on edge have been largely identified as:

• Work & lifestyle related issues-primarily owing to long distance calls to US and Europe, etc, being made at night, India time. Work extends 24x7 in most cases in shifts and long hours;
• No early detection of ailments as it is not a priority until symptoms prevail; and so forth.

Some startling data from a recent survey reveals that India has the highest number of diabetics, and the IT and ITeS sectors are having some of the most stressed individuals.

As Prasad Menon, director, HR, McAfee India asserts, "In India it has been seen that employees of the IT & ITES industry are the most stressed. According to a survey conducted by ASSOCHAM on a sample of 200 companies, it has been found out that 98% of the employees are not aware of their health conditions and 30% of the lot is likely to fall to chronic diseases if not addressed on time. Such a situation can be attributed to the lifestyle, food, stressed work environment and other factors. In this context an organization needs to see how they can provide a solution to overcome the same."

Healthcare and wellness thus have become a primary consideration for several organizations which are now seeking innovative ways to keep their employees' health under check before problems escalate to alarming levels.

"As part of the association with HealthcareMagic, we had planned a combination of online health risk assessment & onsite biometrics to give an analyses of Akamai employee health risks which was coupled with our internal analysis on the hospitalization claims. Yes, this did help us understand the health risks that our employees are facing and we have come up with an annualized calendar of events," reveals Sathyanarayana Chandra, head, compensation & benefits, Akamai India.

 

So, What's Magical about It?

prasad-menon-director-hr-mcafee Prasad Menon, director, HR, McAfee India

McAfee: "We have partnered with HealthcareMagic since the last two years and value the partnership. HealthcareMagic's expertise, ability to be flexible to understand and execute our needs has been as desired. However the key to success is for the leadership at McAfee to have vested in the program and make commitment in terms of time and money to make it a success.

HealthcareMagic respects the employee privacy and gives assurance for keeping their data private. They provide us with an overall health index on areas where we need to target on and whether we are progressing in the right areas. They provide us with a log report on how many people are using different services and it has been found out that 70% of our employees are actually using this service. McAfee HealthMagic solutions enjoys the trust and faith of its employees since all the information is protected in a secure location.

Following features are offered:

Health Assessment Report provider

Doctor on call 24*7

Super Specialist services

Family of the employee can also use its services-irrespective of the geography based in the country (Service offered only to Indian employees)

Medical Health concierge services in a very affective way

McAfee HealthMagic caters to online as well as offline approach. In the online world it can be used very creatively to reach out to the best doctors and specialists and also access a lot of health articles which can be used for further reference and understanding. The offline domain exists to complement to all the services provided online.

For instance, the ‘NuYu' program is a 3-month offline program related to weight management that includes a plethora of activities like assessment, dieticians calling, aerobics sessions, trackers and multiple interventions to help meet a specific goal of the individual. The program also promotes team bonding and fun as one progresses through this journey."

Akamai: "As with any new service, there was a certain mindset challenge to begin with, when we launched HealthcareMagic services. We are coming out with a structured program over the next few quarters to increase the awareness on the importance of the health and well-being of the employees and how it will help employees individually and Akamai overall in the longer run. Sathyanarayana Chandra, head,    compensation & benefits, Akamai India

To us, HealthcareMagic is a unique value proposition in that they combine a basket of health and wellness services under one umbrella and execute it in the fashion which Akamai wants, be it HRA, organizing interactive sessions with qualified people, access to online doctors (via chat), help prepare diet charts and get appointments with specialists through their website, etc.

We hope to strengthen this value proposition from an employee perspective by driving greater engagement in the years to come."

 

 

Availing the Service...

"If an online user wants to ask a cardiology related question, a cardiologist will answer to his questions for a small fee within a couple of hours. The user can see the answer at HealthcareMagic.com The user can also attach reports/photos, etc, with the question.

Our services are being delivered through three channels:

Online Retail-where the user searches for a health condition, reaches the portal and pays through his credit card to ask questions

Enterprise (Corporate)-where HealthcareMagic has signed up with over 54 clients in India to provide services to its employees and dependants

Insurance Companies-where the portal's services are bundled with health insurance policies and sold along with the policy. Two of the largest private health insurance companies in India are working with the company.

Other features include:

Employee Engagement-We provide a platform whose engagement is measurable. We, on an average, get employee engagement, which is in the range of 35-40% unique visits per year.

Risk Identification-Most organizations have an idea of their top health insurance category claim. But the same is not true of their top organizational health risk. That is where we come into the picture and help organizations identify their tip health risk factors and also break it down into various categories. This helps us to advise them on managing their health risks

Attractive Pricing Options-including customizations and discounts for corporates depending upon their size and requirements. We charge our fees depending upon the number of families enrolled and the number of different services that they would like to avail. It is an annual retainer cost and hence will have to be incurred on an annual basis."

 Going Healthy the Online Way

In many cases, offline help is not so readily available. However we are now witnessing a few innovative portals springing up to cater to wellness and healthcare for individuals and corporates, and the IT industry too is welcoming these. Some corporates in the IT industry are adopting one such portal, HealthcareMagic.com

The portal claims to be the only one in the country for corporate India that provides real-time access to over 3,000 specialized doctors, be it related to anything that they can access. The employees and their family get access to doctors as and when they like from the comfort of their desk.

It also has invested in technology which when used can make the organization aware about how healthy it is - this is done using various analytics tools. The Bengaluru based HealthcareMagic portal will complete 5 years in December 2012.

In fact, "McAfee is among the first few corporates to look at wellness in an integrated way and introduce McAfee HealthMagic solutions. And its objective-health needs of employees and their dependents is very diverse and they will like to keep it private. McAfee HealthMagic brings in balance, is scalable, and private in nature," adds Menon.

 What the Benefits are...

With customized solutions possible, benefits are aplenty.

Increased Health Awareness: Organizations battling increased insurance claims have started off with more health awareness towards the long-term goal of structured health interventions for their employees

Better Access: Employees and dependents enjoy huge advantages when compared to traditional healthcare service delivery models. This is simply because they don't have to wait and they get access to some of the most experienced professionals right from the comfort of home or office

Mappable Results: Instead of being just a cost, organizations are able to see return on investments in terms of employee health engagement and in terms of clear-cut experience sharing through HealthcareMagic's platform

The Model's USP...

While it offers a comprehensive service basket from a corporate health and wellness perspective, there is an amount of credibility and acceptance with over 55 clients and 2 private health insurance partners. Further, the portal also uses technology as an enabler and hence is looking to make services more relevant to clients. There is also an upcoming mobile app in line with that thought process.

And the Verdict...

McAfee: "We are happy with the services and this is a long-term focused program. It required sustained focus and commitment from all involved. Health is important everyone knows and we at McAfee need to stay committed on this journey"

Akamai: "The first year has been challenging to get the employee to engage with the value proposition. But we did get good support from HealthcareMagic. Our aim is that employees should have a superior user experience and satisfaction. To ensure that, we are working very closely with HealthcareMagic"