Technology | Could the digitalisation of workplace health reduce public spending?

It’s no secret that the British healthcare system is under-pressure and that a huge proportion of this weight could be removed if we all looked after our health a little better.

One in four people still die due to preventable diseases, such as heart or respiratory issues. Meanwhile lifestyle-related illnesses cost the NHS more than £11bn a year¹, with the associated sick days leaving British firms £77 billion² worse off annually due to lost productivity. The combined cost to the British economy is huge – and it’s within everyone’s best interests to solve the problem.

Over the past decade, we’ve seen a subtle shift in who’s assuming responsibility for healthcare, with employers increasingly feeling and demonstrating a duty of care for employees, so that some of the load is removed from the state. This makes sound business sense really; if employees are healthier, they take fewer sick days and are less likely to develop long-term health conditions that will result in high premiums for private health insurance.

This shift of responsibility to the employer has coincided with advances in healthcare technology – which over the last decade has made its way out of operating theatres and into the everyday lives of health-conscious individuals.