Plum appoints Jayanth Ganapathy as director of healthcare

Employee health insurance platform Plum has appointed Jayanth Ganapathy as director, healthcare, said a statement issued today.
With increasing demand for affordable and quality healthcare, penetration of health insurance is poised to expand in the coming years. The next step for insurtech is to bridge the gap between healthcare access and insurance penetration.

With the objective to enhance comprehensive healthcare benefits and expand Plum’s portfolio of healthcare partnerships, Ganapathy will work towards creating a countrywide hyperlocal healthcare network which is easily accessible to the firm's customers. He has a strong understanding of driving healthcare operations, having earlier led telemedicine and diagnostics business units for organisations such as Practo, Connect & Heal, and Qikwell.

In his new stint, he will be instrumental in expanding the company's partnership footprints within the healthcare ecosystem including clinics, pathology labs and e-pharmacies, among others.

“From a macro perspective, healthcare and insurance have similar problems: those of affordability and access. Going forward, the onus lies on insurance partners to provide end-to-end care to our members - right from preventive to primary and tertiary care. We have services like Plum Wellness which caters to prevention, Plum Telehealth - our proprietary tele-consult platform for primary care through doctor access, and group health insurance for tertiary care," said Abhishek Poddar, co-founder and CEO, Plum.

"We are working towards being the holistic healthcare partner of all our members and be the first port of call for any healthcare emergency. Jayanth will play a pivotal role in accelerating our mission of enhancing healthcare accessibility by providing healthcare facilities on a single digital platform," said Saurabh Arora, co-founder, CTO and head of wellness at Plum.

Post-pandemic, corporates have realised the urgency of comprehensive healthcare packages that include focus on both preventive and curative treatments. As per industry reports, 70% of GenZs demand support from their employers for their mental well-being and health security. On the other side, corporates are willing to offer comprehensive health benefits in order to attract the right talent and retain them.

“Today healthcare benefits for employees have moved beyond just health insurance or an annual health checkup. Corporates are demanding new-age solutions to build employee-centric and inclusive work-culture on the one hand and more inclusive healthcare packages on the other. We are collectively determined to solve the healthcare accessibility challenge in the country, one step at a time," said Ganapathy.
The company is backed by Tiger and Sequoia and its customers include Unacademy, Groww, Simpl, Epifi, among others.