Discovery Health Personal Health Pathways Usage Skews Female

In Short

• Discovery Health says over 700,000 adult members have activated Personal Health Pathways.
• Women make up nearly 60% of activations and complete most preventive health actions.
• Female members logged 1.5 times more recommended actions than men since launch in January 2025.

What Happened

Discovery Health shared new data showing how members use its Personal Health Pathways feature in South Africa. The AI-powered tool, which uses software to suggest next steps based on a member’s health profile, sits inside the Discovery Health app and is offered at no extra cost.

More than 700,000 adult Discovery Health Medical Scheme members have activated a Personal Health Pathway so far. Women account for nearly six in every ten activations, and they complete the majority of key preventive health actions.

Since the platform launched in January 2025, female members have completed 1.5 times as many recommended actions as male members. Discovery Health says women also represent almost 60% of all Health Checks completed, along with most mental wellbeing assessments, GP consultations, flu vaccinations, and dental check-ups.

The company’s engagement breakdown points to sustained, day-to-day use. Women accounted for 60% of clinical health actions completed over time, 53% of weekly exercise goals reached, and 59% of mental wellbeing assessments. They also made up 73% of engagement with digital mental health channels in the app, and 76% of enrolments into the scheme’s depression risk management programme.

Discovery Health added that members who engage with Personal Health Pathways are three times more likely to complete Health Checks and twice as likely to do cancer screenings than non-engaged members. It reported that 23% of Health Checks flagged out-of-range results needing follow-up, and 1.3% of first-time cancer screenings detected cancer.

Why It Matters

This is a useful data point for African Health Tech builders and insurers. It suggests personalised prompts and incentives can move people from awareness to action, especially around screenings and mental wellbeing.

It also highlights a product design question, how to raise engagement among men without lowering trust or increasing friction. For companies building AI-guided care pathways, uptake is not only about the model, it is about the habits the product creates.