Healthy Employees: The Ultimate ROI
By Cristina Adams
May 2024
During the early days of COVID-19, when the world as we knew it was being upended, Eduardo Medeiros worked for a conglomerate in Mexico. There was no vaccine, and people — particularly the elderly and those with underlying illnesses or conditions — flocked to hospitals in search of help.
Before moving to Mexico, Eduardo had already founded and sold a successful startup back in his native Brazil. By the time the pandemic hit, he had held various positions at several companies, but they all had one thing in common: a lack of health and wellness information about their employees.
There was no data about who might be out sick, who might have health indicators or a chronic illness — information that was not only important to the company’s bottom line, but could also have given him and his team key insights into how to help their employees get through the early days of the pandemic.
Instead, he contracted COVID-19, spent 10 days intubated in critical care, and nearly died. “What happened to me, happened to other people,” he says. “I had indicators like diabetes that I didn’t know about because I didn’t have the data. I left the hospital wanting to put together a program that was simple, affordable, and run on technology, and would make it easy for people to be aware of their health.”
"I left the hospital wanting to put together a program that was simple, affordable, and run on technology, and would make it easy for people to be aware of their health."
Two years later, his company, Welbe, is a unique disruptor in Mexico’s occupational healthcare space. Its healthcare platform uses AI to collect and share employee health information with enrolled employers, keeping everyone from the CEO to the night-shift janitor productive by keeping them healthy. In Mexico, the cost of workplace absenteeism adds up to about 4% of the country’s GDP; Welbe’s clients, however, have seen a 16% drop in absenteeism over the past year and a half.
What’s more, many employees have experienced their first annual exam, eye exam, dentist visit, treatment for a chronic illness, and more, thanks to Welbe’s partnership with a national network of doctors and medical labs. That’s probably why the company has signed 108 clients in 18 months and expects to surpass $10 million in invoices in 2024.
Not that it’s been easy. During the company’s infancy, Eduardo recalls his wife putting together desks while he made calls and attended meetings. “It’s been a challenge to find the right people with the right chemistry and cultural fit to join our team,” he says. “We do a lot of collaboration. We all do everything and pitch in whenever we have to, and whoever joins us has to be ready to do the same.”
In addition to finding talent, there have been challenges in productivity, sales, technology and business intelligence, and there will likely be more in the future. But Eduardo says it’s worth it.
“The best thing about Welbe is the social impact we’re having,” he says.