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For workplace-health providers, insurers and consultants: adding genetic analyses to your programs
Workplace-health providers, insurers and consultants are the bridge between an organization and the lab – not the mailbox where results end up. The same principle applies to all three roles: whoever pays for or organizes a program gets the invoice; the person tested gets the result. With Novogenia, there are three routes: a partner shop with a commission on every order and no setup fees, white label under your brand, or your own product. For insurers: the member gets their results, the insurer only the invoice, and participation has no effect on the contract or premium. The legal limits are set by Sections 18 and 19 GenDG, Section 67 GTG and Art. 37 GUMG.
The bridge, not the mailbox
An insurer offers its members genetic analyses free of charge. Members sign up with Novogenia, receive the kit, send in their saliva sample and get their results. The insurer only gets the invoice. That is how Novogenia describes one of its partner models – and it is the blueprint for every program in which someone pays for others.
Whether you are a workplace-health provider, an insurer or a consultant, your role is that of a bridge. You connect companies or members with the lab, organize talks, workshops and counseling, and hold the program together. Across this bridge, the result travels directly to the person tested. You are never a mailbox where results pile up – and that is exactly what makes you trustworthy to companies and members.
This article shows how to build genetic analyses into existing programs, which partner models Novogenia offers and which rules apply to insurers. How a program runs inside a company, stage by stage, is described in Rollout: from kick-off to results.
Three roles, one principle
| Role | Typical task | What matters |
|---|---|---|
| Workplace-health provider | organizes health programs for companies: talks, workshops, counseling | acts on behalf of the employer – results go only to employees |
| Insurer | offers analyses to members as a prevention building block | the member gets the result, the insurer the invoice; no effect on contract or premium |
| Consultant | develops concepts, selects partners, reviews processes | clarifying data flows, roles and each country’s law before the start |
One point concerns everyone: at Novogenia, partners can usually choose whether they see their clients’ reports. In employer programs, this choice does not apply. There, the report goes only to the employee – even if you run the program as a workplace-health provider. In Austria, Section 67(1) GTG expressly also prohibits the employer’s agents from accepting or otherwise using the results of genetic analyses.
And one-on-one counseling? If an employee voluntarily brings her report along, an external expert can discuss it with her. What is said there stays there: no notes to the company, no evaluations. Especially in Austria, because of the ban covering agents, have it reviewed legally in advance how you organize one-on-one counseling.
Three ways to work with Novogenia
| Partner shop | White label | Your own product | |
|---|---|---|---|
| How it works | orders through your shop; Novogenia ships the kit, runs the analysis and delivers the report | logo, packaging, report and platform carry your brand; Novogenia stays invisible | your own product concept, developed together with Novogenia |
| Terms | a commission on every order, no setup fees | by individual agreement | by individual agreement |
| A good fit if | you want to start quickly, without upfront investment | you have an established brand and want to run the program as your own | you are planning an offer that does not exist yet |
How registration and billing work in a program paid for by a company or an insurer is set out in the contract – as is who has which data-protection role. Saliva kits can carry your branding. You will find more on the models under Become a partner and White-label genetic analyses.
Plan your program with the analyses available today. The longevity line is planned for 2026; formulations, quantities and availability may still change before launch. Companies also buy supplements as an offer for employees – the contract manufacturing guide explains how this sales channel works in How to sell supplements: the sales channels. Your team can prepare professionally with the free NOVO Academy.
How the genetic analysis plugs into existing programs
Most workplace-health providers already have a program: health days, nutrition workshops, exercise offers, stress management. The genetic analysis replaces none of these. It is a personal starting point that makes the existing building blocks more tangible – for example, a talk on nutrition and genes, followed by voluntary analyses and individual sessions.
| Building block in your program | How the genetic analysis plugs in | What to watch |
|---|---|---|
| Health day or talk | a talk on nutrition and genes, followed by voluntary registration | no sample collection by you or the company; in Switzerland, sample appointments with an authorized professional |
| Nutrition workshop | a report on nutrition and weight as a personal starting point | workshop open to everyone, with or without an analysis |
| Exercise and sports | an analysis on sports and performance | in Switzerland, an increased risk of sports injuries counts as medical (Art. 37(2) GUMV) |
| Stress and recovery | a lifestyle analysis on stress | talk about stress and recovery, no stress types or risk labels |
| One-on-one counseling | discussing the report if the person brings it along | nothing flows back to the company |
| Supplements | personalized, private and optional | formula, report and delivery go directly to the person |
| Evaluation | anonymous feedback, attendance at open offers | no genetic statistics for clients |
Medical analyses belong in none of these building blocks. They run only through a company physician with the qualifications national law requires – as a voluntary medical service, kept separate from occupational health check-ups. More in The role of the occupational physician.
For insurers: prevention with no data flowing back
Insurers can offer genetic analyses to their members as a prevention building block, as part of a bonus or health program, or as an exclusive benefit for selected plans. For members, the route is simple: they receive a kit, provide a saliva sample and send it in – with no doctor’s visit and no blood draw. The lab analyzes genetic predispositions relating to nutrition and metabolism, without statements about disease risks.
Three commitments carry the model: at no time does the insurer receive individual genetic data or results. The results go exclusively to the person tested. And participation is voluntary and has no effect on the contract or premium. The law backs these commitments in all three countries:
| Country | What applies to insurers |
|---|---|
| Germany | Insurers may not demand genetic examinations, before or after the contract is concluded, and may neither demand, receive nor use results (Section 18(1) GenDG). An exception applies only to existing results for certain policies with very high benefits, such as life insurance. |
| Austria | Insurers, including their agents and staff, are prohibited from collecting, demanding, accepting or otherwise using the results of genetic analyses of policyholders or applicants (Section 67(1) GTG). The exception in para. 2 applies only to type 1 analyses from which no conclusions can be drawn about type 2, 3 or 4. |
| Switzerland | Insurance providers may not require non-medical genetic tests, nor request or make use of medically irrelevant genetic data (Art. 37 GUMG). They may not require presymptomatic genetic tests prior to providing insurance (Art. 42 GUMG). |
In practice, this means: build the program so that the insurer has no technical access to results at all, and keep lifestyle and medical analyses strictly apart. Make no promises about health or costs – a prevention program convinces through voluntariness and confidentiality. Whether and how it can be funded or subsidized depends on the country and the type of insurance; more in Funding: tax, health insurers, budgets.
Setting up a program with Novogenia follows six steps:
- Initial talk and goals: clarifying your member base and prevention goals.
- Program design: matching the analysis scope, report depth and supplements to your target group and compliance requirements.
- White label: designing kit, reports and products under your brand.
- Pilot: starting at a manageable scale and testing acceptance and processes.
- Integration and scaling: standardized processes for sample shipping, analysis and delivery.
- Ongoing operation: supporting and developing the program.
More on Prevention program for insurers. If you are planning a state health or prevention project, see Health projects.
For consultants: eight checks before the start
If you advise companies or insurers, you are often the last checkpoint before the start. These questions separate a clean concept from a risky one:
- Who sees what? The result goes only to the person tested; the client receives the invoice.
- Where does the sample go? Directly to the lab – in Switzerland, taken in the presence of the prescribing professional.
- Who is responsible? If several parties jointly determine purposes and means, an arrangement under Art. 26 GDPR is needed. If someone processes data on another’s behalf, a contract under Art. 28(3) GDPR is needed. Details in Data protection and confidentiality of results.
- Which countries? Each country is reviewed separately, Switzerland under its own legal framework.
- Lifestyle or medical? Strictly separate; anything medical only through the medical route.
- What does the program promise? No health outcomes, no cost savings, no diagnoses.
- Who is involved? The works council or employee representatives and the data protection officer, early on and not just before the start (more in Internal communication).
- How is success measured? Through participation and anonymous feedback, never through genetic results (more in Measuring benefits and impact).
Large projects: project protection for partners
If you win a larger company as a partner, Novogenia’s terms protect your work with project protection:
- A project is a company that permanently employs more than 200 people.
- Each project requires a written, project-specific agreement; you apply for project protection by email.
- If there is no conflict, project protection is activated for 6 months. After that it expires automatically, and other partners or Novogenia itself may then do business with the customer directly.
Plan the 6 months realistically. In business with companies, decision paths are often long: the steering group, the works council and data protection all want to be heard. Partner agreements themselves run for an indefinite period and can be terminated with 4 weeks’ notice to the end of any calendar month; commission claims that have already arisen are not affected by termination.
Checklist for providers, insurers and consultants
- Results go only to the person tested; clients receive the invoice.
- In employer programs, the workplace-health provider does not see reports either.
- Samples go directly to the lab, never through the client or provider.
- Data roles are settled in a contract.
- Lifestyle and medical analyses are kept apart.
- The concept has been reviewed for each country, Switzerland separately.
- For insurers, it is communicated explicitly: no effect on contract or premium.
- The program promises neither health outcomes nor cost savings.
- The partner model is chosen: partner shop, white label or your own product.
- For companies with more than 200 employees, project protection has been applied for.
Frequently asked questions
As a workplace-health provider, may we see employees' reports?
Can an insurer pay for analyses for its members?
Can we offer the program under our own brand?
What is project protection?
Are there ready-made packages with prices per employee?
Related: Rollout: from kick-off to results · Prevention program for insurers · White-label genetic analyses
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Request a project →Corporate health in the longevity guideNote: This guide is general information for businesses and professionals and does not replace medical or legal advice. The genetic traits determined in a genetic analysis are well documented (each gene included is backed by at least three independent studies); recommendations derived from them are logical conclusions, not scientifically proven. Regulations can change; errors and changes excepted.