Carepoynt is a first-of-a-kind health-focused rewards program. Carepoynt functions as a consumer-centric program built around a multi-channel, cloud-based ‘Rewardsware for Healthcare™‘ platform, allowing members can earn and redeem ‘Poynts’ through a number of local and national affiliates including, FitBit, Freshly, Nike, Nordstrom, Best Buy and others. Poynts are awarded to consumers for making more health-conscious decisions.
The platform was developed by Dr. Tom Giannulli and Tim Stanley as a means to drive engagement and outcomes across the evolving U.S. healthcare ecosystem. The platform is based on proprietary technology, superior CRM tools and a sophisticated, multi-channel approach. The aim of Carepoynt is to enable consumers and patients to engage with a trusted network of healthcare providers, payers, employers and strategic partners to encourage healthier living and enable improved outcomes for all involved.
To find out more, we spoke with Dr. Tom Giannulli MD, MS who is the chief medical officer, chief technology officer and co-founder of Carepoynt about the new consumer and business-focused program.
Digital Journal: What are some of the major challenges facing healthcare today?
Dr. Tom Giannulli: The need for consumer engagement in healthcare has never been higher, particularly when considering the complex and frustrating American healthcare system. Here, expenditures per capita are 3 to 5 times more than other developed countries, average lifespans are 5 to 10 years lower, and industry spend on reactive “sick care” is 100 times more than spends on proactive and preventative health and wellness care that can actually result in improved outcomes and lower overall costs. In fact, the leading causes of death in the U.S continue to be highly correlated to the chronically increasing rates of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, respiratory, addiction, stress and mental health issues–many of which could be preventable and/or proactively manageable.
According to the Department of Health and Human Services, healthcare spending is projected to increase at a rate significantly faster than the national economy over the next decade. Traditional healthcare costs have continued to skyrocket and are now one of the highest required and discretionary spend categories for consumers. Current averages are over $10,000 per person (and more than $25K per family) in the U.S., with many foregoing preventative and required care due to cost, complexity and coordination challenges. In 2016, traditional healthcare spending topped $3.3 trillion, with almost half of all costs allocated to treat less than 10 percent of population—often the result of costly, late stage chronic condition sick care, versus proactive and preventative health and wellness care.
DJ: Please explain what Carepoynt is and how it can help.
Dr. Giannulli: Carepoynt is the first health-focused rewards program, platform and network that puts consumers at the center of their own healthcare experience. It was designed to change the dynamic of escalating costs and declining satisfaction within the eroding U.S. healthcare system, while helping to catalyze and encourage a shift towards healthier, more rewarding outcomes for society.
Through its consumerized, multi-channel, cloud-based Rewardsware for HealthcareTM platform, Carepoynt members can connect, align, engage and be rewarded with a trusted network of healthcare-focused providers, payers, employers and strategic partners. These groups work within the Carepoynt network to provide compelling care plans, appealing health and wellness products and services, and an engaging and results-oriented rewards experience. Carepoynt’s overall goal is to encourage healthier living and better healthcare outcomes for all which we achieve through a “Poynts”-based system.
DJ: Please explain about the ‘Poynts’ aspect.
Dr. Giannulli: Carepoynt was designed to help consumers lead healthier lives and save on healthcare costs. Consumers can earn Poynts from regular visits to the doctor, dentist and other healthcare and wellness providers. Think of it kind of like a points-based travel, retail or credit card system, where you earn points with a company based on your spending with them. With Carepoynt you can set up your own goals, follow your doctor’s care plan or even participate in your employer or payers’ wellness programs. And, just by eating right, exercising regularly, seeing your doctor or purchasing health and wellness products and services online, you can earn Poynts redeemable at hundreds of partners like Freshly, GNC, CVS, Amazon, Nike and many more.
Poynts can also be easily pooled and shared with the friends and family in a member’s ‘Clique’, redeemed with popular retailers or used with other healthcare providers. You can even ‘Share the Care’ with your family or friends, or donate your Poynts to a favorite charity or other good cause within the Carepoynt Community.
DJ: Which affiliates are you working with?
Dr. Giannulli: Just a few of our hundreds of current partners include Freshly, GNC, FitBit, Blue Apron, CVS, Reebok, Hello Fresh, Unbooked Appointments, DentalPlans.com, Brighter Yoga, iHealth, Amazon, Nike and many more. There is a complete list available on our website.
DJ: How have consumers reacted?
Dr. Giannulli: The reaction from consumers has been phenomenal. Soaring healthcare costs are frustrating millions of Americans every day. Carepoynt is the first health-focused rewards program that finally puts consumers at the center of their own healthcare experience. Consumers response to Carepoynt is often similar to how Carepoynt member Lynn Forese describes her experience, “Carepoynt is amazing—I’ve never seen a program like it! I can easily share Poynts with my family and use them for my family’s doctor appointments, but I can also use my Poynts for my Amazon purchases. It’s so easy to use—it’s a one stop shop!”. By connecting consumers with our many health and wellness partners, we believe we can drive consumer behavior and engagement in very positive directions which will ultimately improve health and economic outcomes, not only for them, but for everyone in the Carepoynt Community.
DJ: What were the main challenges in developing Carepoynt?
Dr. Giannulli: Creating a scalable and secure rewards platform has it challenges throughout development, but the biggest challenge is around creating initial awareness and getting very early partners to buy in to the network. For many it is a very easy sell, but others want to see a large group of other partners prior to their commitment. It’s a very common “chicken and egg” scenario. So, it’s a balancing act for Carepoynt as we expand into new markets and work to secure partnerships where our “Poynts” can be used effortlessly by our members.
DJ: What has the interest been in Carepoynt from medical professionals?
Dr. Giannulli: Universally positive. We have heard repeatedly that “it’s about time” from the medical professionals we’ve been working with through the development and launch. The Carepoynt system is really an asset for them to promote better patient compliance and engagement through an innovative digital solution.
DJ: How have you addressed data security concerns?
Dr. Giannulli: Due to the nature of the platform, we are HIPAA compliant. The Carepoynt system is secure and leverages the latest cloud security infrastructure, which is self-healing and alerts our team of any suspicious activity. We take data security seriously and are working with our development team daily to protect users and medical professionals, as well as to keep our partner information secure.
DJ: How to you plan to expand Carepoynt in the future?
Dr. Giannulli: We have big plans to expand into our partner channels and leverage well-known national brands for expansion and growth into new markets. We are poised for explosive growth as our partnership base grows to accommodate our ever-expanding membership.
DJ: What other projects are you working on?
Dr. Giannulli: Beyond launching Carepoynt to market, we are currently integrating our branded virtual credit card services into the mobile website to the benefit of our members and partners. The goal is for members to exchange “Poynts” for goods and services from within our partner network effortlessly without burdening them with additional steps.
DJ: What other types of healthcare related technology interest you?
Dr. Giannulli: We love digital health tools and technology that makes an impact in improving the standards of care for our members. Health wearables that offer vital data, and consumer-friendly voice-activated devices that can capture what you had for lunch for example, are a boon for our medical partners—helping to assist in improving and incentivizing their patient care.
Carepoynt’s mission to encourage healthier living, enhance the value and improve the results from its healthcare investments as well as enable more engaging experiences and better outcomes across the healthcare and wellness ecosystem is reflected in the Carepoynt CARES approach.
