Are you’re in the market for a wellness platform? You’ve got a lot of ground to cover.
Market research shows corporate wellness is a $40 billion industry. That means there’s a lot of competition in wellness technology to support population health management.
But not every wellness vendor, platform, or tool is the right fit for your organization.
So how do you sort it all out?
If your buying decision isn’t based on a wellness strategy for your population, you could be making a Big Mistake.
The Payless Effect
Last month the discount retailer Payless Shoesource opened its first luxury store, Palessi, in Santa Monica, Calif., for high-end shoppers. Droves of people walked through the doors, enticed by fashion influencers and the store’s posh design. And they paid up to $645 for sneakers and stilettos.
But the exact same shoes sell for 1,800 percent less at other Payless stores. Shoppers learned this when they left the store, received a full refund, and got to keep the shoes. And the experiment shed some light on how people make buying decisions.
The lesson for wellness managers:
If you choose wellness platform software solely based on its look and feel or broker recommendation, you could be making a mistake.
If you want a wellness platform to help you improve population health and simplify program management, don’t make these buying-decision mistakes:
- Everybody’s doing it. If you’re looking for a wellness platform, health risk assessment, or other wellness program tools, it won’t take long to realize there’s a lot of competition…and a lot of choices. It’s very time consuming to sort through the garbage. But if you pick a wellness platform based on popularity or the company with the biggest marketing budget, instead of your wellness strategy, you could be in trouble.
- The user interface looks nice. It happens more often than you might think. The wellness manager recommends a variety of wellness platform vendors. And then the decision maker swoops in, sees a couple of demos, and picks the one with the best user interface and design. Don’t make this mistake.
- It’s expensive, so it must be good. The Payless experiment is a good example of how easily price can influence perception. If you rule out wellness platform vendors based on price, instead of taking a closer look at features, benefits, and customization options that support your wellness strategy, you could be making a costly mistake.
- My broker said, “It’s the best.” Not all brokers are bad. I want to believe most are in the business to help their clients promote health, prevent disease, boost productivity, and lower healthcare costs. But the reality is, some are just in it to make a sale. Don’t make this mistake. Get to know your broker. Take a closer look at their relationship with the vendor. And find out what kind of support you’ll get after signing a service contract.
- It doesn’t really work for my population, but…You bite the bullet and sign a three-year contract for a wellness platform. But it doesn’t take long for you to realize, it doesn’t have the functionality you need to support your wellness strategy. You start developing work-arounds for a clunky system you’re paying for. And when the contract is up, you renew because it’s “easier,” or you switch vendors without a wellness strategy.
Sound familiar? If you’re in the market for a wellness platform there’s a lot of factors to consider. And you don’t want to make a buying decision you’ll regret. Here’s what I recommend:
- Map out a wellness strategy for your population. (Cookie cutter plans just don’t work, because every population is a little different.)
- Get input from wellness managers who will administer the program.
- Establish a baseline of wellness platform tools and features you need to be successful
- Anticipate needs to adapt or make changes as your population or wellness
- strategy evolves.
- Partner with a wellness platform company that provides unlimited customization options that meets your needs and your budget.
Looking for a customizable wellness platform?
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