Dr Semugga shares how Personal Health Pathways helped catch abnormal cervical cells in young patient

When GP Dr Jane Semugga, endorsed a pap smear through Personal Health Pathways for her patient, a 24-year-old Discovery Health Medical Scheme member, she didn't expect the decision to be life-changing.

"My patient's pap smear showed pre-malignant cells," explains Dr Semugga. "That means the cervical cells were abnormal but hadn't yet turned cancerous. We were able to intervene early, which is crucial."

Dr Semugga immediately created a care plan including follow up pap smears, a consultation with a gynaecologist, and an HPV vaccine.

Dr Semugga says: "I'm absolutely certain that if it wasn't for Personal Health Pathways, I wouldn't have been able to convince this patient to get a pap smear."

How a financial incentive led to early detection

Dr Semugga's patient had already used up all the funds in her medical savings account by March 2025 and was daunted by having to pay for medical care out of pocket. That's when Dr Semugga introduced her to Personal Health Pathways - a free feature on the Discovery Health app that recommends personalised health actions and rewards users for completing them.

"My patient hadn't heard of Personal Health Pathways before, so I helped her to download the Discovery Health app and activate her Personal Health Pathway.".

Using Discovery's Health ID - an electronic health record for patients - Dr Semugga could endorse, or select, next-best-actions from a list of recommended actions that were relevant to her patient on Personal Health Pathways.

"I endorsed a pap smear, knowing she could earn funds to help cover her other medical costs." Despite being reluctant, Dr Semugga's patient went for the pap smear test, driven by the incentive to earn money back into her Personal Health Fund.

"Doctors don't always push for pap smears in women this young," she adds. But in this case, the financial incentive created the perfect opportunity - and it may have saved her life."

A tool for patients with high needs and low resources

Dr Semugga has recommended Personal Health Pathways to more than one DHMS member patient - especially those with high healthcare needs and limited resources.

For example, she told a patient with severe ulcers to use Personal Health Pathways. "This patient can now earn funds into her Personal Health Fund by completing the screenings recommended on her Personal Health Pathways, and use that money to buy the medicines that would otherwise deplete her medical savings account."

What is Personal Health Pathways?

Personal Health Pathways is a smart, AI-driven tool available to adult Discovery Health Medical Scheme (DHMS) members for free through the Discovery Health app. It provides personalised, real-time health recommendations - called next-best-actions - based on a member's specific health status, risk profile, and engagement patterns.

Each Personal Health Pathways cycle provides up to two clinical actions and one weekly exercise goal, which must be completed by a set date. Members can earn up to R500 for each completed action, into a Personal Health Fund, up to a maximum of R10,000. These funds can be used for everyday healthcare expenses, including GP and specialist consultations, medicine, radiology, and pathology.

The platform uses more than 50 million life years of health claims and clinical data, along with nearly 30 million life years of exercise and lifestyle data gathered through Vitality in South Africa, to recommend actions with the greatest potential to improve health outcomes.

Building informed, empowered patients

Beyond the financial and health benefits of Personal Health Pathways, Dr Semugga notes a shift in how her patients engage with their health.

"Personal Health Pathways empowers people. They come in asking questions, wanting to understand what a mammogram is, or why they need a certain test. That didn't happen before."

"We're moving away from a model of medicine where the doctor just diagnoses a patient, tells them what to do, and they obey blindly. Building empowered patients will hopefully have a knock on effect, where communities are empowered, so that healthcare knowledge isn't just limited to the doctors' rooms."

Personal Health Pathways is brought to Discovery Health Medical Scheme members by Discovery Health (Pty) Ltd; registration number 1997/013480/07, an authorised financial services provider and administrator of medical schemes. Personal Health Pathways is enabled by the combination of Discovery Health's healthcare capabilities and Vitality's behaviour change expertise. Discovery Health Medical Scheme, registration number 1125, is an independent non-profit entity governed by the Medical Schemes Act, and regulated by the Council for Medical Schemes. Vitality is a separate wellness product, sold and administered by Discovery Vitality (Pty) Ltd, registration number 1999/007736/07. Limits, terms and conditions apply.