Health IT, Policy, Startups

Jiff wants to do for employer wellness programs what WordPress did for blogs

Although workplace wellness companies are estimated to be a $6 billion industry in the U.S., […]

Although workplace wellness companies are estimated to be a $6 billion industry in the U.S., there has been some disappointing news that they are not well subscribed by employees and can produce lackluster results. But Jiff, a health IT startup, is seeking to change that. It has a platform that helps employers and health plans digitize and scale up their wellness programs to speed up adoption and increase participation. It’s also working with Towers Watson (NYSE:TW) to test and market an employer wellness program, according to a company statement.

Jiff CEO Derek Newell said one of the goals was to do a better job of integrating employer and employee health programs without having to build one from the ground up. It’s basically hoping to do for corporate wellness programs and healthcare organizations what WordPress did for making the process of starting a blog or website easier and cheaper.

Jiff’s software-as-a-service platform provides protocols on interface design, social models and guidelines for game mechanics. There are thousands of apps and programs on the platform that are compatible with each other. Users can also pick incentive tools.

“There’s an amazing amount of innovation happening with the digital health space,” Newell said. “But there’s an amazingly long sales cycle before getting to adoption. What we’re doing with Towers is a digital application that links employers incentives with what consumers want. It hasn’t been done before.”

Asked about the market potential, Newell estimates that 100 million individuals receive coverage from employer plans at Fortune 1000 companies. Companies pay a monthly fee for the service depending on how many employees they have. Aeris Capital and Aberdare Ventures are among the investors in the Palo, Alto, California-based Jiff, which was started in 2010

The collaboration with Towers Watson has produced the Health Outcomes Marketplace — a scalable solution on Jiff’s platform that includes digital health apps. It can be used to help employers fine-tune employee incentive programs, measure employee behavior and outcomes, and connect that information to existing systems. Employers can also see real time reports and check benchmark performance.

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