PROVIDING ACCESS TO AFFORDABLE, RELIABLE HEALTHCARE SERVICES AND WELLNESS SOLUTIONS
TOTAL HEALTH TRUST
Making
NIGERIA Healthier
Kieran Godden, CEO of Total Health Trust Ltd., discusses the company’s mission to empower Nigeria’s people and make the country healthier Writer: Sean Galea-Pace | Project Manager: Callam Waller
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aking Nigeria a healthier place. It’s central to everything Total Health Trust (THT) is working to achieve. It forms part of Liberty Health which operates across 27 sub-Saharan countries providing health insurance solutions. THT is a leading Health Management Organisation (HMO) dedicated to serve SMEs, corporates and multinationals in Nigeria. Founded in 1997, THT provides affordable, reliable healthcare insurance services and solutions. Its primary business is insurance, with a particular focus on the health sector. At its core, the company believes health support and improvement are a major part of a sustainable solution to ensure the wellbeing of the customers it serves. THT is headquartered in Lagos and operates branches in eight other Nigerian cities. And at its helm sits Kieran Godden, CEO since January 2020. Having worked in the insurance industry for over 21 years, he comments that he ‘almost fell into health insurance’. 2 | Africa Outlook issue 89
“I moved to Nigeria to acquire, start up and lead a life insurance business for Liberty Holdings,” he says. “The transaction didn’t work out and I transferred across to Liberty’s health insurance business in Nigeria first as Chief Operating Officer and then as CEO.”
As a result of the global disruption caused by COVID-19 over the past 12 months, Godden admits that the last year has been a difficult hurdle to overcome but is keen to see the positives.
Kieran Godden, CEO
“It’s certainly more challenging than exciting at the moment,” he admits. “There have been a huge range of emotions, but it has been incredibly fulfilling. “Times like these are why we exist, and we have definitely seen a lot more interest from clients in securing proper, quality cover for their healthcare and wellness needs.” However, Godden admits that there is a shortage of medical care across the majority of Africa, with doctor to population ratios considerably lower than in other parts of the world. “What is exciting is that we are very slowly starting to see this change and I think, the pandemic will spur on
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development and innovation as we emerge from the economic slump.” After COVID-19 hit, THT invested significantly in supporting healthcare providers through additional payments for personal protective equipment. This contributed to securing the sustainability of the healthcare ecosystem. According to Godden, this is down to his company’s mantra of always being there for its customers when they are really needed. “From a pure benefit coverage point of view, we made very little adjustment,” he says. “We covered both the testing and treatment of COVID-19 from the start and fully
intend to continue with this. This is particularly challenging as there are limited facilities that can treat the disease safely (without risk of significant further transmission). “We are one of the very few insurers across Africa to provide this cover and the only African based insurer.” Part of Liberty Health, the organisation has a number of offerings, such as Liberty Health Cover, Managed Care Capitation Plans, National Health Insurance Scheme administration, and Third Party Administration. THT insures more than 480 employer groups and 190,000 members. Apart from its core offering of a wide range of affordable
health insurance plans, THT also offers value-added wellness services cutting across different areas of health, fitness, diet and health maintenance. Its African footprint, through Liberty Health, allows the company to leverage worldclass solutions together with local expertise and a network of more than 1,800 healthcare providers in Nigeria to deliver better healthcare results. Along with many other companies, THT was agile in switching to remote working as a proactive measure to curb the spread of the virus. Godden is full of praise for the speed at which his people adapted. Africa Outlook issue 89 | 3
TOTAL HEALTH TRUST “In addition to the normal workfrom-home arrangements that all businesses have implemented, we invested in assisting the sustainability of the healthcare industry and also in serving our clients better. We pivoted our whole business to digital and remote interaction, rather than try to continue doing the same things, just
from home.” In collaboration with Liberty Health, THT began its full digitisation journey in 2019. The company is implementing a single platform administration capability that is unique across the continent as it can handle multiple countries, multiple currencies and multiple products on one system.
TOTAL HEALTH TRUST’S COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE • Total Health Trust’s team is driven by its purpose of ‘Working Together to Make Nigeria Healthier.’ This means that the firm is never finished and has never ‘won’, as it is constantly pushing the boundaries of reliable and efficient healthcare solutions. • It pioneered and provided the first ‘Fee for Service’ health insurance product in Nigeria and continues to have the largest private client base. • Its group – Liberty Health -is focused on the African continent – understanding the market. THT is able to leverage this reach and offer multi-national companies a consistent solution across 27 countries. • The company operates a huge network of contracted providers – 1,800 in Nigeria and 7,000 across Africa. 98 percent of the company’s claims are settled directly with the provider and the member accesses care on credit. • THT provides cover for COVID-19 testing and treatment. • The company was awarded HMO of the year at the Nigerian Healthcare Excellence Awards for three out of four years before the awards were paused for the pandemic. • In 2020, THT was voted the Employee Productivity Partner of the Year at the 2020 BusinessDay Bank and other Financial Institutions (BAFI) Awards.
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TOTAL HEALTH TRUST “The power of the system is that it provides control and governance while enabling a full range of interactive options for customers and providers, all from one source system,” he says. “We are aiming to have the system fully implemented within the next twelve months but there will be features going live all through this time.” With the importance of establishing key, strategic partnerships in mind, Godden affirms that good relationships are essential to ensuring satisfied customers. “Our industry is interesting in that we sell a product that we do not actually deliver. While we provide
GODDEN ON TALENT MANAGEMENT “One of the most powerful things is recognition,” explains Godden. “We have been deliberate about this by sharing our achievements and successes with the whole business recognising the individuals who were responsible for these. In cases where an individual provided exceptional service, we have shared the customer’s feedback with everyone. This does not have to be coupled with a reward to have a huge impact.” “That being said, we are very much a performance driven organisation and we have all committed to take responsibility when we fall below expectation. Every decision has consequences – good or bad. We try to work together to learn from these mistakes and we also invest heavily in training and skills development to be better every day.”
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funding for healthcare, the care itself is delivered by our partner healthcare providers and facilities,” he explains. “While we do not provide the care ourselves, our customers rely on us to ensure consistent quality and best outcomes. We have a rigorous quality assurance and audit programme to ensure that this is the case. If a member has a bad experience, it is often the insurer who is contacted first and expected to manage the situation. We have a team of case managers, all medical professionals, who handle all high-risk cases on a personal level and keep regular contact with the member and also with the hospitals. “Another key partner in our ecosystem are the brokers and consultants. In this case, we work together with them to provide a service to their clients as they are the primary owners of those relationships. It is vital that the insurer and the broker have a strong relationship and can manage difficult situations quickly and easily.”
Subol Hospital Subol Hospital is a leading MultiSpecialist hospital in Lagos Nigeria. Our doctors are highly qualified with cognate experience in various fields of medicine. Our Hospital runs various specialists’ clinics to avail our clientele a wide spectrum of medical services. Subol Hospital has built a renowned reputation over the years, as an exemplary healthcare provider that has become the preferred destination of patients from far and near. At Subol Hospital, patients are cared for with a breadth of expertise as all our service offerings and delivery models are anchored on three important variables; Care, Comfort and Compassion as captured in our mission statement. We are currently awaiting SafeCare Level 5 accreditation having been enlisted in SafeCare program since 2011 from Level 0 and moved progressively to Level 4 in 2016 under the supervision of PharmAccess, Netherlands.
HEALTHCARE
DR. O.M BELLO MEDICAL DIRECTOR & FOUNDER
T +234 802 223 3695 | info@subolhospital.com www.subolhospital.com
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TOTAL HEALTH TRUST However, Godden believes that every business relationship takes time to nurture and that it is important to be patient to grow long-lasting and sustainable partnerships. “No relationship is perfect because we are all human and will make mistakes from time to time,” he muses. “It is how well we recover from these mistakes and how we learn from them that separates the good from the great.” “The stronger the relationship, the easier it is to communicate and resolve issues.” Indeed, when it comes to supply chain, reliable partnerships are a
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key component to the success of a company. “We choose suppliers often for the sustainability of the relationship or service and not only the price,” he explains. “In any challenging environment, it is your partners and relationships that can make a huge difference. We try in all cases to deal honourably and fairly with our partners just as we do with our customers.” To Godden, staff are the heartbeat of the organisation. THT’s strategy is built around its people and Godden believes that his employees are ‘the business’.
“Our strategy is built around people and we see this in two parts – our people and customers,” he says. “We have defined a way of working for the organisation that the whole management team put together and all the staff had some time to comment on. These are action statements and not a set of dry ‘values’, that will only ever appear on the wall of the reception. We try every day to do these things.” As a Group, Liberty Health committed to doing its utmost to avoid pay cuts or job losses. As a result, Godden believes staff have
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“WE’D ALSO LIKE TO CONTINUE TO BUILD ON OUR DIGITAL FOUNDATION, SUCH AS OUR SOCIAL MEDIA AND WEB PRESENCE, WEBINARS AND DIGITAL WELLNESS AND EDUCATION. WE WILL CONTINUE TO GROW”
recognised that conscious effort and repaid that with hard work amidst the pandemic. “I think we are very fortunate that all THT’s people are resilient and adaptable,” he explains. “They have coped with everything that the epidemic and the lockdowns have thrown at them and continued to be there for customers. I have been very proud of all our people, over the last year more than ever.” Looking ahead to the future, Godden outlines his key focus areas for the next year. “We want to offer training for all staff, members, clients and providers,” he explains. “We also want to improve
our members’ experience at healthcare providers even further – across the whole spectrum of the service.” “We’d also like to continue to build on our digital foundation, such as our social media and web presence, webinars and digital wellness and education. We will continue to grow.”
TOTAL HEALTH TRUST Tel: 0700 TOTAL HT (0700 86825 48) contactcentre@totalhealthtrust.com marketing@totalhealthtrust.com
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TOTAL HEALTH TRUST LTD 2 Marconi Road, Palmgrove Estate, Lagos State, Nigeria Tel: 0700 TOTAL HT (0700 86825 48) contactcentre@totalhealthtrust.com marketing@totalhealthtrust.com
PRODUCED BY AFRICA OUTLOOK MAGAZINE