Digital fitness platforms are moving way beyond step-counting and heart rate monitoring. Today, these platforms are beginning to affect multiple facets of an individual's health — from integration with fitness centers to becoming a requirement for reimbursement of popular GLP-1 drugs for weight loss.
This was a major theme in a discussion at the Becker's Payer Issues Roundtable, led by Ed Buckley, CEO, and Todd Slawter, chief growth officer, both of FitOn Health. They also discussed the company's growth, its focus on digital health and the FitOn app's engagement and stickiness.
Four key takeaways were:
1. The adoption and utilization of digital fitness platforms has significantly increased post-COVID. According to Mr. Buckley, 35% of in-person fitness centers closed during the pandemic. "My guess is that during COVID, people got much more comfortable with online products and services, and ours was a tech-first platform," he said. "We doubled engagement with every single group, which has been remarkable."
2. Cross-pollination between in-person and digital fitness activities has become more common. As a result, it's critical that digital fitness solutions centralize all of a person's different activities and data. "It's the stickiest app I've ever used when it comes to fitness and wellness engagement," Mr. Buckley said. "FitOn has become this hub for your wellness window to yourself and to others; all of that gets tracked and you get insights from it." Mr. Slawter added, "And it syncs with Apple, Garmin, Fitbit or other apps. You can see all your data in one location."
3. The social aspect of fitness apps enhances engagement and stickiness. Social media spreads the word quickly, bringing in new members through multiple avenues. "We have a freemium model, and 52% of our new members come in completely organically," Mr. Buckley said. "Our 12-month retention is six times higher than the industry average of fitness centers."
4. Digital fitness tracking is becoming a condition for GLP-1 drug reimbursement. FitOn Health has created programs that allow payers to tie reimbursement of GLP-1 drugs to healthy lifestyles. "These programs are designed for people who have just gotten on these weight-loss drugs, and they now need to worry about some potential side effects, like muscle mass loss," Mr. Buckley said. "I would love it if everybody paid attention to nutrition and exercise, but the thing that gets people [to pay attention] is when payers say they will only pay for GLP-1 drugs if a patient on a GLP-1 drug is also enrolled and participating in a fitness program."
FitOn Health's experience is proof that digital fitness platforms are quickly becoming an important part of people's health and wellness journeys.
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FitOn Health
FitOn Health is the leading enterprise health and wellness platform for both employees and the 65+ sector. We provide whole-health solutions such as condition-management courses, instant access to the widest variety of workout and meditation classes from world-class trainers, experts and celebrities. We work with the top health plans and 19K+ enterprise customers to drive best in class engagement and provide an integrated solution through our digital platform and expansive network of fitness studios and gyms. We are a one-stop for preventative care helping your employees and members get more active, connect with coworkers, friends and family–making a healthy lifestyle fun and motivating.
FitOn Health has leading engagement with more than 15M members who have completed over 1 billion workout minutes taken. Learn more at: https://fitonhealth.com