Take control of your health journey with Personal Health Pathways and get rewarded. Here's how
Personal Health Pathways is designed to get adult Discovery Health Medical Scheme members healthier by recommending personalised health and exercise actions. The best part? Members earn rewards for completing these actions. Here's a guide to how Personal Health Pathways works.
Personal Health Pathways is designed to get adult Discovery Health Medical Scheme members healthier by recommending personalised health and exercise actions. The best part? Members earn rewards for completing these actions. Here's a guide to how Personal Health Pathways works.
What is Personal Health Pathways?
Personal Health Pathways is a free digital tool available to adult Discovery Health Medical Scheme members through the Discovery Health app. Personal Health Pathways recommends personalised health and exercise actions - known as next best actions - based on each member's individual profile and health needs.
How do next best actions work?
Next best actions (NBAs) are personalised steps given to members to support better health and wellbeing. During each Personal Health Pathways cycle, members receive:
- Up to two clinical health actions
- One weekly exercise goal
These actions must be completed within a set time. Completing the actions helps members progress towards closing their health and exercise rings.
Health ring
To close their health ring, members need complete recommended clinical, screening or lifestyle actions. These may include: completing a health check, visiting a dentist, visiting a primary care doctor, or undergoing screenings such as mammograms or prostate cancer screenings.
Once an action is completed, a new one will be assigned. If no actions appear, it means the member has completed their current set of actions. New actions may be added as the member's health journey evolves or their health status changes.
Exercise ring
To close the exercise ring, members complete a weekly physical activity goal, based on their current activity levels. Exercise recommendations may include: Taking 2,500 steps three times in a week, completing a heart rate workout, or participating in a parkrun.
Exercise goals are refreshed every Saturday morning and must be completed by Friday evening.
How are members rewarded for completing their next best actions?
Members earn rewards for closing their health and exercise rings in the form of funds into a dedicated Personal Health Fund. Members can earn up to:
- R500 per completed health action
- R100 per completed exercise action
- A maximum of R10,000 per family per year
The funds in the Personal Health Fund automatically cover day-to-day medical expenses , including GP and specialist consultations, prescribed medicine, radiology, pathology, and more. Up to R500 may be used for over-the-counter medicine.
Rewards are available to members regardless of whether they are a member of Vitality. And, Vitality members earn their Personal Health Pathways rewards in addition to their regular Vitality rewards. Additional incentives like Ðiscovery Miles and shopping vouchers for partners like Woolworths and Dischem, may also be awarded for completing next best actions.
How is Personal Health Pathways personalised to each member?
Personal Health Pathways uses advanced technology including artificial intelligence, predictive analysis and behavioural science models to personalise recommendations.
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 from Vitality in South Africa, to recommend the most impactful actions for each member.
Each recommendation is chosen for its potential to meaningfully improve a member's short- and long-term health. Members can tap on any next best action within the app to learn why it has been recommended.
Here's how Personal Health Pathways is helping to save lives
In the first six months since its launch in January 2025, Personal Health Pathways has already played a key role in improving lives. Here's how:
- Sameshni Moodley, 43, says: " Personal Health Pathways recommended I do a mammogram - a health check I hadn't seriously considered. The test found stage 1 breast cancer I had no idea was there. Personal Health Pathways didn't just guide me; it may have saved my life. Early detection changes everything, picking it up as early as possible. This proactive approach has made a significant difference in my journey, and I am grateful for the digital 'nudge' that Personal Health Pathways provided." Read her full story here.
- Through Personal Health Pathways, Dr Jane Semugga selected for a young patient to do a pap smear as one of her recommended next best actions. The pap smear revealed abnormal cervical cells in the patient - prompting treatment that may have saved her life. Read more
Activate Personal Health Pathways
To use Personal Health Pathways, you must be a member of Discovery Health Medical Scheme. Then:
- Download the Discovery Health app on the Apple App Store or Google Play.
- Log in, then scroll down to the Personal Health Pathways section on the home screen.
- Accept the terms and conditions to begin receiving personalised health and exercise actions.
For more information, visit the Personal Health Pathways page.
The Discovery Health Medical Scheme is an independent non-profit entity governed by the Medical Schemes Act, and regulated by the Council for Medical Schemes. It is administered by a separate company, Discovery Health (Pty) Ltd, an authorised financial services provider and administrator of medical schemes.