Tech Collective Feature: The startup helping SMEs reduce employee medical costs
December 29, 2020
Focus Malaysia Feature: Digitalising HR processes to adapt to new norms in the post-pandemic era
January 21, 2021News
China Press Feature: Mednefits, medical benefits platform, aims to cooperate with 1500 panel clinics
December 29, 2020
Mednefits, medical benefits platform, aims to cooperate with 1500 panel clinics
by 宋诗敏 at China Press – December 28, 2020
(Kuala Lumpur, 29th) After raising RM24 million in its Series A funding round, Mednefits, an employee medical benefits platform, aims to expand its panel in Malaysia to 1500 clinics by the first quarter of 2021, and reach 100,000 users in both Malaysia and Singapore.
Bearing in mind that most startups and small and medium enterprises lack the manpower to manage employee benefits, Mednefits is a one size fits all platform to enhance, optimize and improve the employee benefits market, and provide a wide range of healthcare clinic services in Malaysia and Singapore.
Chris Teo, Chief Executive Officer, Mednefits said during an interview with China Press, “Mednefits will mainly expand in Malaysia 2021. We are looking forward to working with 1500 panel clinics in Q1 of 2021, and aim to see a 66.7% growth of new users in both Malaysia and Singapore.”
He said, “There will be large companies joining the Mednefits platform, including Sports Toto Sdn Bhd, Subsidiary of BJTOTO Berhad, and 7-11 Malaysia Holdings Berhad. Moreover, under our agreement, within 10km of every 7-11 store, there will be a Mednefits panel clinic.”
Expect 100,000 new users in Malaysia and Singapore
Mednefits is looking to grow the number of panel clinic it has in Malaysia by 400 in Q1 of 2021, in order to reach its goal of 1500 panel clinics.
Mednefits has launched its employee benefits platform in March 2014. Within a few years, it has reached 12,000 users on its platform. Including users from its new clients such as Sports Toto and 7-11, it is total will reach 60,000 users. Even amidst the pandemic, the company’s business growth has doubled this year.
Besides this, Mednefits has raised RM24 million in its Series A funding round for business expansion, tech infrastructure investment and relevant tech talent recruitment.
Many enterprises have found the costs of purchasing medical benefits and insurance packages for employees to be heavy. However, Mednefits is an automated, affordable and accessible employee benefits platform. It can not only assist companies to manage employee benefits, but also to help them to improve their cost efficiency and management planning during difficult times.
“Employers purchase conventional insurance, and much of the insurance premium includes third party service fees and administrative costs. To help employers manage this burden, we launched Mednefits. Employees just need to go the designated clinic for medical treatment and scan the Mednefits QR code, removing the need for physical payment or administrative claims processes. Mednefits will send the bill immediately to the employee’s company, and payment will be handled directly by them. It will help reduce insurance costs, and users are able to enjoy a smooth experience.” said Chris.
The biggest challenge is to meet the requirements of three parties
Even though Mednefits has many benefits, Chris admitted that the biggest challenge in establishing the business is finding the right balance to meet the requirements of employers, employees and clinics.
“The biggest problem we encountered in the first three years of establishing Mednefits was to find out the most ideal business model, and we were undecided on whether we should charge our fees to clinics or companies. We spent 3 years to figure out the best model for business optimization, and eventually decided to only charge our fees to clinics,” said Chris.
“When employers use our platform, it will naturally increase the number of patients that our panel clinics see as well. In other words, we are helping to boost their clinic services. Malaysia and Singapore have never allowed clinics to promote their services to the market, so collaborating with our platform is also one of the channels they can use to boost business.”
In addition, one of the challenges is attracting employers and employees who prefer conventional healthcare insurance to switch to Mednefits’ platform. However, using smartphone scanning has become the new normal because of the pandemic. Moreover, most companies are controlling their cash flow during hard times, making the switch to the Mednefits more viable.
