Buying OH should be about ‘how this aligns?’

A panel discussion held last week heard that buyers and purchasers who purchase occupational health and wellness products and services should maintain a healthy level of scepticism and ask constantly, “How does this align?”

The debate was held last week at the MAD World Festival of Workplace Culture and Employee Health and Wellbeing. It brought together Nick Pahl (chief executive of SOM), Elton Dorkin (chief medical officer of Rio Tinto), Steve Iley (chief medical officer of Jaguar Land Rover), and Professor Jo Yarker from Birkbeck, London, who is a professor of occupational psychology.

Pahl pointed out that the discussion was framed in part around SOM’s launch of an occupational healthcare buyers’ guide last month. It was about making sure people who were being bombarded with sales pitches and are purchasing products and services could navigate the market.

“One of the main things that came across was that there are so many options out there that it’s really hard to decide what is best for your organization, your investment and people?” How do you implement and achieve some of these practices?” asked Professor Yarker who was the key author of this guide.

Iley admitted that “a provider will sell anything to you; I’ve been a provider and I can sell you anything!” Iley admitted that many providers employ salespeople who do not manage accounts. The sales people target the products they are selling and then move on to the next. The account manager picks up all the pieces.

You need to know who you are working with. You will find that there are many different suppliers. Stop and ask yourself, “How does this fit in with my overall strategy?” Your business must understand your strategy. Needs and wants are two different things. The business may want something, but need something else. You need to figure out how to do that,” he said.

“In many organizations, especially after they reach a certain scale, everyone is interested in well-being, everyone thinks they are the owners of it, and everybody wants to buy stuff. You end up with a multitude of disparate pools that don’t work together. Iley says that the biggest problem is when a buyer doesn’t know what they are doing and just wants something to check the box for ‘wellbeing.’ But it does not match the needs of the service.

He added that choosing the cheapest option can often be a false economic decision. Iley said that if you reduce costs, you’ll get a lower-cost service.

Dorkin agreed that you should ask yourself, “What am I doing here ?’,”?” “Safety and health – How will these things work together for the business?”

The gaps in healthcare will differ depending on the type of role, geography and system. What is the NHS in the UK doing? Is it working?” What does private healthcare do? Does it work? “What’s the problem?” He asked.

Iley also pointed out that the NHS can be a provider in this context. Jaguar Land Rover is one example of a company that works closely with NHS to provide interventions like liver screenings and heart checks. It will also be testing the government’s at-work NHS Health Checks pilot.

“The NHS provides services.” You will know if you have worked in the NHS that it is not one organisation, but a group of organizations working together under the NHS banner. Iley stated that the biggest challenge is finding the right person with whom to work.

He added, “Once you find people to work with you can work in partnership with NHS. There are many win-win situations that you can set up with little effort.”

The NHS often struggles to provide services to the community, whereas these services are relatively easy to implement and deliver in the workplace. An NHS mobile screening unit, for instance, can go through a list of targeted liver scans. People only need to be out of their roles for an hour, rather than for a full day or a half day.

Iley said that the NHS was “willing and eager” to work with employers. The new government is aiming to move care from hospitals into the community. “Our workplaces are also ‘the community,’ and we have people, especially those of working age, which is what the government is after,” he said.