Sun Life U.S. has officially announced an expansion of its partnership with Goodpath to leverage the latter’s virtual whole-person care for the purpose of serving its employer clients. According to certain reports, the development in question will let Sun Life access mental health, musculoskeletal conditions, digestive issues, sleep concerns, and cancer survivorship services. Now, while it certainly enjoys a rather expansive reach, the whole development will make a point to provide members with dedicated mental health support, regardless of their primary condition. Talk about the whole on a slightly deeper level, the projected beneficiaries can come expecting, for starters, unlimited talk therapy sessions. Available through the virtual mode, these sessions will be conducted in collaboration with a licensed mental health therapist. Next up, we have the promise of customized care. Like you might have guessed, this translates to how members will receive a personal health assessment, which is then used to create a tailored health care plan designed for their unique needs. Building upon that would be the availability of health coaching. You see, alongside a plan focused on your unique healthcare needs, the development in question will also make a point to give you your own health coach, who by the way, is to hold at least a master’s degree in a clinical specialty.
“Prioritizing whole-person care – and recognizing that it includes mental health – means our members receive support for a variety of health conditions, and will be able to proactively address mental health issues to maintain stronger mental wellness at work and at home,” said Dr. Tracy Hamill, M.D. assistant vice president and medical director of Group Claims and Clinical Services at Sun Life U.S.
Hold on, there is more, considering we still haven’t mentioned the fact that you can access these services from anywhere, and you can do so through the Goodpath app which provides exercise therapy, mind-body interventions, behavioral health programs, learning modules, and several other health and wellness offerings. Joining the same would be a set of custom care kits, kits that are delivered right at the doorstep of participating employees. As for what the stated kits bring with them, the answer to that includes devices, supplements, or therapy tools etc.
The expansion of Sun Life’s partnership with Goodpath provides a rather interesting follow up to the partners’ initial bid to come together and offer virtual whole-person care to members receiving disability benefits for musculoskeletal conditions of the back or neck, or long COVID. Markedly enough, early results from the said program displayed that, just after three months, participants were able to experience significant reductions in pain severity, anxiety, and depression.
As for what makes these companies the ideal candidates to lead such an effort, Sun Life’s case is made by the fact that it is currently among the largest providers of employee and government benefits, helping more than 50 million Americans access the healthcare and coverage they need. For the given people, Sun Life conceives a portfolio of benefits and services, including dental, vision, disability, absence management, life, supplemental health, medical stop-loss insurance, and healthcare navigation.
Moving on to Goodpath, essentially a virtual clinic for chronic health conditions, the company’s excellence in what it does can be understood once you consider that more than 90% members have been able to improve overall health with Goodpath. Not just that, they have also managed to reduce cost of care through proactive, whole-person care.
“We are thrilled to expand our partnership with Sun Life and their clients, providing care that helps people improve their health and avoid more serious conditions,” said Bill Gianoukos, CEO of Goodpath. “Whole-person care is proven to drive improved physical and mental health outcomes, which will foster a healthier workforce and can help drive down the cost of care.”
