Sleep Health Qorus-NTT DATA Innovation in Insurance Awards 2026

Executive Summary

Drawing on insights from our analysis of more than 100,000 Discovery lives with 47 million sleep records alongside over 40 million life years of health-claims data, our findings demonstrate that sleep is a powerful, modifiable driver of health outcomes and healthcare costs. Sleep is as impactful as nutrition and physical activity. Our research shows that improving sleep duration and regularity can reduce all-cause mortality risk by 22% and sustain a 7% reduction in in-hospital claims. By including sleep in our Discovery Shared-Value Model, we estimate that achieving optimal sleep across the membership base could yield not only improved population health outcomes, but approximately R1 billion in savings. As part of our strategy to deliver more precise and personalised healthcare, Discovery Health is embedding sleep into our behavioural health platform, Personal Health Pathways (PHP) and within the Discovery Health Medical Scheme (DHMS) risk-funded benefits. Members will engage with and improve their sleep through an advanced sleep score, precise recommendations for habit formation, personalised rewards, and clinical intervention.  

• Sleep as the next frontier: a growing public health concern

Sleep is a clinically significant lifestyle factor that directly influences mortality, cardiometabolic health, and mental wellbeing. Global trends show that poor sleep is on the rise, and as a result sleep disorder prevalence is increasing. Evidence links poor sleep to increased risks of all-cause mortality, depression, hypertension, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. Given its modifiability and systemic impact, sleep should be routinely assessed and addressed in preventive and therapeutic care. The evidence for its impact laid the foundation for Discovery to embed sleep health within our Shared-Value Model. In promoting continuous, proactive care, Discovery Health is committed to identifying cost-effective strategies aimed at enhancing both the quality and duration of sleep, preventing comorbidities linked to inadequate sleep, and personalising interventions for members based on individual data trends and patterns.

Discovery data shows that one in two members have at least one sleep metric out of range, while one in five have two or more sleep metrics out of range. In 2024 the average hours of sleep for Discovery Health Medical Scheme (DHMS) members decreased by 2% per annum, and the average proportion of deep sleep (representing the quality of their sleep, and the most restorative stage of sleep) decreased by 9% per annum. Since 2022 members sleep 12 minutes less and spend 36 minutes less in deep sleep. The quality and quantity of our sleep is on the decline, at a population level. Exploring sleep trends further, our data shows that the regularity of one’s sleep (consistency of both sleep start and sleep wake times) improves as one ages. Overall, the proportion of insufficient sleep and poor-quality sleep are both increasing by 5% per annum, and when compromised these attributes of sleep directly increase the risk of cardiometabolic disease, depression, obesity, and early mortality. This indicates that the quality, duration and regularity of sleep in Discovery lives is on the decline, and the impact of these trends are manifesting through increased chronic condition risk, increased total costs and poorer health outcomes.

Concerningly, sleep disorder prevalence is on the rise too. Health claims for these conditions in DHMS members have grown 2.8 times from 2008 to 2024. Prevalence of these sleep disorders is driven by insomnia which made up 55% of sleep disorder claims in 2024, however, obstructive sleep apnoea represents the fastest growing sleep disorder. 1 in every 28 DHMS members had a sleep disorder claim in the primary or secondary diagnosis position in 2024, with a spend of R230 million associated with those sleep disorders. The demographic profile varies by sleep disorder: insomnia claimants are majority female with an average age of around 56, and obstructive sleep apnoea claimants are mostly male, and with a much higher average BMI than other sleep pathology cohorts.

These alarming trends speak to the urgent need for sleep intervention at scale, and the meaningful opportunity to form healthy, long-lasting sleep habits. Sleep Health responds to these trends, ensuring that we as Discovery, are guiding our members through evidence-based insights and recommendations where improved sleep is ensured.

• The bi-directional relationship between sleep and chronic conditions

A bidirectional relationship exists between poor sleep and chronic conditions. There is a significant co-occurrence of sleep disorders (particularly insomnia and obstructive sleep apnoea) and other chronic conditions, creating a growing multi-morbidity burden across Discovery Health members. Poor sleep can increase the risk of developing physical and/or mental health conditions, while poor physical and/or mental health can negatively affect sleep quality, regularity and duration. This two-way relationship creates a cycle that can accelerate disease progression, increase total costs, and reduce quality of life.

For example, sleep disorders such as obstructive sleep apnoea are more common in people living with obesity. Conversely, poor sleep can lead to weight gain by altering appetite-regulating hormones, increasing caloric intake, and reducing motivation for physical activity.

When looking at the sleep disorder population the presence of co-morbid chronic conditions becomes apparent. Within this population, 45% have hypertension, 34% have hypercholesterolaemia, 13% have depression and 12% have type 2 diabetes.

Similarly, a well-established bi-directional relationship exists between sleep and mental health. Symptoms of depression and anxiety, such as persistent low mood and excessive worry often show up as sleep disturbances, which contribute to fatigue and impaired daily functioning. Likewise, consistent poor-quality sleep can trigger or intensify mood and anxiety disorders by compounding fatigue, disrupting emotional regulation and limiting cognitive processing.

After adjusting for disease burden, our analysis confirms that members with a chronic condition (Ischaemic Heart Disease, Type 2 Diabetes, Depression) and a sleep disorder have higher risk-adjusted admission rates (20-50% higher) and higher per life per month costs (20-54% higher) than lives with a chronic condition but no sleep disorder. On average, members with a chronic condition as well as a sleep disorder have a 14% higher risk-adjusted admission rate and 1.8x higher risk-adjusted healthcare costs. This underscores the independent risk contribution of poor sleep, and the multiplicative cost impact of sleep on health.

Regardless of a chronic condition, clear sleep trends have manifested in the Discovery data. A few examples are as follows:

1. Compared to members who sleep 7 hours on average, those who sleep 5 hours or less have a 7% higher risk-adjusted admission rate, and those who sleep 9 hours or more have a 13% higher risk-adjusted admission rate.

2. Members who sleep for 5 hours on average each night have a 68% higher likelihood of diabetes onset compared to those who sleep 7 hours.

3. Data shows that members who sleep 5 hours or less nearly double their risk of moderate to severe depression symptoms, and those who sleep 9 hours or more have an 11% increased likelihood of depression onset.

Alongside the bi-directional relationships shared above, it is also shown that sleep and physical activity are linked. Members who are physically active go to bed more regularly, sleep for longer, and have improved sleep quality than those who are not. Therefore, sleep and physical activity should be encouraged in parallel.

The relationship between sleep and healthcare outcomes is not linear, sleeping more or less than an optimal duration often increases an individuals’ risk for adverse health outcomes.

• The opportunity for behaviour change at scale

Through the trends and learnings shared above, alongside our rich sleep dataset and Personal Health Pathways engine, Discovery had the unique opportunity to engineer the best, most precise recommendations to members on how they can sleep better and improve their overall health outcomes. Sleep Health represents a cross-organisational effort in establishing the value of sleep and implementing sleep as a impactful behaviour, as an equal alongside exercise and nutrition. Acknowledging our north star which is to make people healthier, and enhance and protect their lives, Sleep has become another tool to achieve just that. The power is that not only does sleep represent a topic which can be engaged by all, but it is a behaviour that once improved and sustained, can improve one’s health and lower their total costs.