Wellness Apps Becoming More Interconnected

A slate of mobile applications have emerged to help employees track and manage their well-being, although HR departments may find it difficult to explore, choose, and rate the best apps for their workforce, reports Employee Benefit News . Consultant Zachary Seavey notes employers have many reasons to care about workers' well-being outside of healthcare spending, including growing stress on the broader talent value proposition, which includes not only workers' physical health but helping them better manage their money. Innovative Broker Services CEO Tom Avery sees opportunities for brokers to interconnect these various apps by finding apps that would function well together and bringing them to clients. Apps such as WaterMinder, which reminds people to drink water during the day, and Couch to 5K, which helps with exercise, are being integrated to achieve better outcomes for employees. Video visits with ongoing therapists and texting therapists are other examples of apps being combined. "It really is expanding the access points, which has been a major challenge," Seavey says. "A lot of these digital solutions help to address that." Seavey notes as the apps transform, brokers have a responsibility to advise clients of marketplace opportunities and address their needs, as well as link employees in need. Advisers must then deploy a measurement strategy to expect results and know what they are seeing. In addition, advisers should serve as a vendor management resource for clients as new apps become available and others connect.