Poor health can weigh heavily on individuals and organizations resulting in various negative consequences that could manifest in workplace absenteeism, presenteeism, and loss of productivity.

Employees who are sick may require time off to seek medical care and recuperate increasing the organization’s absenteeism rate and causing a ripple effect on the rest of the team who are forced to take on more responsibilities on top of their existing workload.

Conversely, ailing employees coming to work under the weather – presenteeism – taxes businesses beyond direct financial loss as employees may take longer to recover and could infect other employees too leading to even more productivity loss and increased number of days they are unable to work optimally.

Furthermore, after dealing with recent years’ disruptions to both work and family life, employees are under a great deal of pressure that is being exhibited in various ways that can be detrimental to organizations of all sizes.

As a result, organizations are naturally expected to provide resources and support employee wellness to impact employee lives positively and productivity. The good news is that investing in digital health benefits can make a difference.

Digital health can facilitate easier, more convenient and anonymous access to care anytime, anywhere and on-demand at the touch of a button without the long waits needed for in-person care, making it an effective tool for employers to rely on to enhance employees’ well-being and prop up productivity.

What Are Digital Health Benefits?

Digital health refers to the use of technology and digital resources such as telemedicine, online counseling, wearable devices and more to improve healthcare services, support patient care and enhance health outcomes.

Whether providing employees with important health information, tracking wellness activities, expanding access to health care, or using neural networks to diagnose diseases, digital health can provide employees with a multi-touch health experience to manage their health in convenient, personalized and cost-effective ways.

Why Include Digital Health In the Benefits Strategy?

Using digital health tools allows enterprises to complement traditional health care, offer high-quality health care affordably to their employees and fill important health care gaps;

Digital health makes health care more accessible.

A platform such as telemedicine enables health professionals to offer health care remotely and monitor responses to treatment plans, making it easier for patients to receive effective care from anywhere in the world without having to travel to a brick-and-mortar clinic.

This helps employers offer healthcare benefits to likely marginalized employees in harder-to-reach areas such as non-office-based rural workers or remote employees working from other parts of the world.

Digital health gives employees more autonomy.

Health coaching platforms can empower employees to take control of their own health by providing personalized health recommendations i.e. diet, exercise etc. that blend seamlessly into their daily life, enabling them to manage their health proactively.

Besides, employees can rely on wearable devices for real-time feedback about their exercise intensity, cardiovascular health etc. based on their physical activity, heart rate, and other biometric data to set personal health goals, track progress, make informed health decisions, and become better managers of their own health.

Digital health enhances self-awareness

Online self-assessment tools such as symptom checkers allow individuals to easily and quickly assess their health status and gain greater insight into potential health issues and areas that need changes to improve their health.

These platforms also enable employees to access educational resources and virtual consultations as a result, gain detailed information about their health conditions and become more aware of their health status, empowering them to choose the most relevant solutions for their health needs.

Digital health builds healthy habits

Finally, digital health can also provide employees with personalized feedback and motivation resources that encourage healthy behaviors allowing them to build healthy habits that enhance their well-being.

By relying on mobile health apps customized exercise and nutrition, track progress towards health goals and other healthy behaviors, employees can also embrace a healthy lifestyle and improve their vitality.

How Does Digital Health Fits In Employee Wellness Strategy Mix?

Improve employee access to health services

Digital health platforms such as telemedicine can easily fit into employees’ busy schedules by allowing access to care remotely from the comfort of their office or home while eliminating the need to travel to the physical clinic for in-person visits.

This means employees can receive care at the touch of a button i.e. Consult with doctors on demand, get prescriptions delivered to their doorsteps, monitor their health conditions with apps or devices, and receive timely interventions. This helps to treat health issues faster and more effectively before they become health scares and improve overall well-being while reducing health care costs.

Better mental health support

Mental health issues such as stress, anxiety, burnout and depression can significantly impact both employee and employer productivity.

But thanks to digital health tools i.e. mental health assessment, organizations can gain visibility on the prevalence of mental health issues in the workplace and provide appropriate employee assistance resources whether online counseling, stress management programs or mindfulness training to help employees cope, enhance resilience and improve their mental health.

Furthermore, through these platforms, employees can conveniently access confidential and professional support from licensed counselors or coaches via chat, phone, or video with a greater sense of anonymity and privacy without fear of stigma or judgment.  

Enhance physical health and overall well-being

Chronic illnesses such as hypertension and cancer can hamper employees’ ability to work optimally.

However, organizations can count on the ubiquity of virtual wellness programs to provide employees with targeted wellness resources such as nutrition advice, fitness programs and more to help them develop and sustainable lifestyle changes desired to prevent or manage chronic conditions and promote long-term health and wellness.

In addition, accessing personalized fitness programs or coaching services via online channels such as the web or mobile platforms can also encourage employees to embrace healthy habits, improve their physical fitness and boost vitality at work. This can profit businesses immensely as healthier employees are generally more productive and require less time off work.