NAMSR Investigates: Jiff awarded $18M to connect employers to health devices

Jiff offers competitive games, health reward and digital health coach programs for companies and their employees through smartphones and wearables like FitBit.
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Sept. 24, 2014 - PRLog -- Self-insured employers have a huge stake in their employees' wellness, since they have to pay more for sick staff. A startup is betting that employers will want to use every possible personalized tool to encourage healthy habits in their workers. Jiff, an enterprise platform for digital health programs and wearable devices, has secured $18 million in a Series B.

Jiff offers competitive games, health reward and digital health coach programs for companies and their employees through smartphones and wearables like FitBit.

The idea is to add a bit of a carrot for healthy employee actions in the form of fun and prizes, but it could raise thorny privacy issues. How much detail do employees really want their employer to know about their weight or when and how they eat, sleep and exercise? And will employers and insurers be privy to the myriad health data-points that employees themselves increasingly collect and manage for everything from blood glucose levels to genetic testing for disease risk?

In August, Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) released a statement urging the Federal Trade Commission to push for individual opt-outs before personal health data collected via apps and devices is provided to third parties, such as insurers and employers who could use it to discriminate against the user. Prior to that in May, the FTC held a seminar specifically on privacy concerns regarding consumer-generated and controlled healthcare data, so the agency's awareness of the issue is quite clear.

Still, the startup and its backers are betting that rising healthcare costs will make this sort of monitored, employer health encouragement a must. About half of all Americans are insured through their employer. And self-insured employers spend about 30% of all U.S. healthcare dollars, or about $670 billion, according to the company.

Jiff enables employers to offer digital health tools to employees collect their data and use that data to build personalized programs.

"Just as iTunes provided a platform for digital music, Jiff is the platform for digital health programs and wearables, offering employees choice and smart recommendations," Jiff CEO Derek Newell said in a statement. "This, in turn, makes it easier for companies to provide these technologies, create healthier workforces, and bring down their healthcare costs."

Venrock led the financing round, with participation from Aberdare Ventures and Aeris Capital. Jiff has raised $25.8 million in venture capital since it was founded in 2010. Last year, Jiff partnered with HR and financial consultancy Towers Watson, to gain access to their clients.

"The investment in Jiff is consistent with our strategy of focusing on companies that help employers get more value for their healthcare investments," Venrock Partner Bryan Roberts said in a statement. "All employees are different so incentives should be too, and Jiff is the only platform that allows employee level personalization. And that's just the beginning of what Jiff is working on."

CANDIDATES WHO WANT TO BREAK INTO MEDICAL SALES:

RMSR® Medical Sales Certification offered by the National Association of Medical Sales Representatives is designed for entry level medical device sales reps. The course covers a wide array of topics pertaining to industry knowledge that candidates need to acquire before applying to medical sales positions.

The course and training helps to develop the industry skills, maximizing the candidates’ potential and goals, as well as making them feel valued and stimulated in their role when communicating with members of the medical community. By an applicant acquiring medical sales training and a RMSR Certification, it puts him/her in a position of strength and qualifies them for medical sales jobs. Medical knowledge is key in this industry and when communicating with doctors, surgeons, and nurses etc. It is extremely important for representatives to use key terminology pertaining to the medical product he/she will be promoting. The only way to succeed in this industry is to garner actual sales. Doctors and Surgeons will not acknowledge a Sales Rep who is not proficient in essential medical terminology, knowledgeable of medical devices/equipment and the anatomy. For those lacking a solid sales background the RMSR course covers knowledge of medical selling techniques and regulation such as Effective Territory Management, Effective Networking, Medical Sales Ethical & Regulatory Guidelines and more.

The National Association of Medical Sales Representative™ (NAMSR) is the largest professional association in the world for Medical Sales Representatives. Through our numerous members, the NAMSR™ provides accredited training, continuing education, information about the industry, up-to-date news, programs to assist medical sales reps in their work, training programs to assist candidates who want to break into the industry and initiatives to improve communication with the medical sales field.

For more information on the NAMSR or the RMSR certification visit www.medicalsalescareer.com or call 800-313-9198

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