Corporate solutions
Highlights |
Challenges |
Health insurance year-on-year financial performance |
The negative financial effect of COVID-19 |
Wellness business year-on-year financial performance |
The depressed and deteriorating local economy and the |
| Revenue (R’m) | Operating costs (R’m) | Operating profit (R’m) |
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Overview
The challenging economic climate places an additional impetus on AfroCentric to deliver financial value to employers and their employees. This is something AfroCentric is uniquely positioned to do because we are the only organisation that implemented integrated healthcare solutions that reduce costs by disrupting and creating efficiencies in the healthcare value chain.
To further diversify the AfroCentric service offering, we launched a new division consisting of a wide array of corporate solutions for corporate and institutional clients. Our corporate solutions cluster was also established to cater to the interdependent business needs of both employers and their medical scheme members.
The corporate solutions cluster provides integrated health and wellness solutions in the workplace and comprises several interfacing components that contribute to reducing primary care costs:
- Boutique, employer-focused medical scheme administration and associated services
- Healthcare system solutions with the highly rated and efficient IT system
- Health insurance solutions with a primary care focus
- Occupational health services and clinics, along with many associated services, including providing occupational health practitioners, economically active population services, executive wellness solutions, HIV counselling, testing and wellness screening services, among others
- Employee wellbeing programme, drawing on a network of nurses, biokineticists and dieticians, integrating with the chronic disease management and other managed care capabilities within the Medscheme stable
- We identify individuals who are at risk of developing a chronic disease and equip them with the tools to manage this risk. Together with our contracted network nurses, biokineticists and dieticians, we provide corporate and home-based nursing services throughout South Africa. We have more than 300 nurses on our network – 200 of whom are registered general nurses, and 12 of whom are specialist nurses who can prescribe medicine up to schedule two
Unpacking our performance
During the year, our corporate solutions cluster focused on delivering business-minded solutions that meet the unique needs of our clients. These included:
- Client services that demonstrate value to the employer, employees and scheme members
- Managed care that delivers on agreed clinical and financial outcomes to the benefit of schemes and their members while providing a positive impact on the employer's health investment
- Employee wellness solutions that boost productivity, reduce absenteeism, tend to physical welfare and effectively revitalise employees' mental and financial wellbeing
The corporate cluster contains AfroCentric Workcare, the former Sanlam Health entities and during the year this component reached its intended profits as forecast during the acquisition. Highlights included the successful transfer and alignment of all Sanlam Health entities, staff and operations to AfroCentric, including the rebranding, as well as winning contracts outside of South Africa, and assisting AFA Botswana to diversify its business with new corporate revenue.
The team demonstrated agility and developed a comprehensive COVID-19 solution for corporates, industries and medical schemes, which was well accepted and taken up by numerous entities. Innovations included:
- A special COVID-19 electronic case management tracking tool
- A special medical scheme COVID-19 benefit pool created for specific schemes
- A lifestyle support programme for employees working from home
- Online special COVID-19 research and information centre on our client wellness portal
- Special workplace screening services to assist return-to-work employees and employers with compliance
- Crisis management and support should a workplace employee test positive for COVID-19
Furthermore, a special purpose vehicle for mining was developed in the Northern Cape, and this model will be replicated to gain traction within the mining industry and allow clients to adhere to Mining Charter requirements.
Numerous clinics were established for large corporates across the country, onsite and offsite, to support their COVID-19 programmes.
A partnership was developed with the South African Business Coalition on Health and AIDS for corporate social investment purposes, as well as for enterprise and supplier development funds flowing to affiliated service providers, with the Group benefiting from a B-BBEE perspective.
In exploring alternatives to our current model of providing services and products to new corporate clients (small to medium), including healthcare optimisation for our clients to reduce healthcare costs, a disruptive model was developed leveraging the iMed IT platform acquired from Sanlam Health and the capability gained through the PHA acquisition.
The cluster's financial results were adversely impacted by the merger of Topmed, formerly managed by PHA, with Fedhealth Medical Scheme, as well as by the loss of a small group of Midmed. However, significant savings were generated by focusing on reducing the cost base, which forms part of realising the disruptive model, the IT platform migration and leveraging Group systems and infrastructure. The successful take-on of a new Medscheme client from 1 April 2020 onto this disruptive platform was a highlight and positively contributed to the Group's results.
An integrated model
Our corporate solutions create a virtuous cycle within the greater employer environment that impacts the holistic wellbeing of employees while providing benefits to employers and the scheme. In fact, in a corporate study conducted, we demonstrated how AfroCentric's initiatives could reduce absenteeism by 10%, yielding a saving of R19 million for a large employer group. In a further study, we enumerated potential savings of R58 million for this employer, emanating from our wellness solution.
Furthermore, realising that financial stress can lead to emotional issues, increased absenteeism, poor work performance, a lack of concentration, anxiety, poor self-esteem and even depression, we went one step further in helping members manage their finances in these difficult times. Through the part shareholding by the Sanlam Group, AfroCentric can deliver tried, tested and results-orientated financial wellness solutions to ensure an all-encompassing approach to staff health and financial wellness behaviour. Our focus was on reducing the unsustainable level of indebtedness within our society by offering corporate employees' access to credit coaching, which is aimed at improving employee take-home salaries.
The shareholding of Sanlam and African Rainbow Capital in AfroCentric reflects the partnership formed to deliver on a shared strategic vision of providing service, client experience and cost synergies to both employers and employees by integrating solutions across medical schemes, employee benefits and retail financial services.
Outlook
The outlook for the corporate solutions cluster is positive, given that greater integration of the AfroCentric solutions will result in more significant value being unlocked for corporate clients through greater efficiency gains in delivery.
COVID-19 created a challenging operating environment for the corporate solutions cluster. However, we are developing programmes and services to meet the pressing needs created by the pandemic while enhancing the growth potential for the cluster.