Question. What does everyone out there (South Africans) think of Vitality? We've just joined. Got our super cheap gym, earning points like crazy. Blah. Blah.
What do you think? Marketing gimmick? Or a real loyalty programme based on a healthly lifestyle?
What do you think? Marketing gimmick? Or a real loyalty programme based on a healthly lifestyle?
Comments
you now have a gym membership, but do you have a medical aid. being a health care provider, i'm not sure.
i recently had to send one of my patients to a gastro guy for an ercp of slightly questionable repute because this medical aid wouldn't pay the hospital where the best gastro guys work. patient suffers.
Many medical aids/medical insurance companies offer loyalty programs that reward healthy behaviour, but since Discovery is the biggest, and everyone knows them, I will use them in the example.
Programs like Vitality are not part of your medical aid fee and are billed for separately and are run separately. The benefit for the medical scheme is that they have a bit of influence over healthy behaviour which is, of course, a benefit to the scheme.
Less people chronically ill = less money spent on chronic illness = more money can be allocated to other interventions, like certain operations, more high tech equipment etc, etc.
I say "allocated" because thats what administration companies like medscheme, discovery health etc. do. They manage the money in the scheme (the contributions you pay) according to regulations from the council of medical schemes and ensure that there is good allocation of resources to cover all members nomatter what may happen. (heaven forbid a train/plane accident puts half the members into ICU - the scheme will go bankrupt).
In terms of sending patients to certain doctors and hospitals (again, not unique to discovey) it is about what product they bought to cover their health.
You cannot buy a VW beetle and expect to have a BMW mechanic service it and replace the parts with BMW parts... Patients are informed bytheir brokers ( we hope) of what they are buying. If they want BMW parts and services, then they need to by the correct cover.
loyalty programms etc are fine. that's why i said you're getting a bargain...as far as gym is concerned. i doubt you are even getting your money's worth as far as medical aids are concerned.
so if you visit, don't get into an accident. or change medical aids.