‘Axiom was built on occupational health services’: Mark Robinson, President and CEO of Axiom Medical

Millions of American workers are leaving their jobs – especially in Healthcare and Tech. They’re resigning to salvage their mental health, to launch their own businesses, and to find an employer that values them as human beings.

Meanwhile, many employers are struggling to fill open roles and are seeking ways to keep their current workforce sustainably happy, healthy, and productive. “I believe employers have an obligation to treat employees compassionately and with deep regard for their holistic health and family – because it’s the right thing to do,” said Mark Robinson, President and CEO of Axiom Medical.

Founded in 1999, Axiom Medical is bringing a whole health approach to workplace health and safety. Axiom Medical practices it as an organization, and it coaches the clients to do the same. “Everything we do benefits the well-being of the employee and employer – it’s a collective win.”

The employer is not just “winning” financially by retaining engaged and healthy employees; they are developing a reputation as an employer who truly honors their workforce. This social commitment is at the core of ESG valuation; it helps recruitment, retention and builds a culture of trust that’s essential for long-term success. Axiom Medical helps with this.

We interviewed Mark Robinson to know more about the company and what sets it apart. Read on for the excerpts from the interview.

Q. What makes Axiom Medical relevant in today’s times? Could you give us some context?

Axiom was built on occupational health services. We partner with employers to provide services for the entire employee journey.  Occupational health focuses on employee health and safety in the workplace, which includes managing workplace injury, pre-employment testing, occupational medicine, and work-related illness.

The early days of COVID humbled us, overturning plans, and expectations within the first quarter. It was a black swan event. What US employers (our clients) needed most was help dealing with the impact of COVID on their businesses. Meanwhile, all Axiom Medical team members transitioned to 100% remote work. Over the next several months, we settled into our home offices, developed the CheckIn2Work app for self-service illness/exposure screening, and launched nationwide on-site COVID health and safety services to help organizations stay open for business, safely.

Since then, we’ve had close to 14 million health attestations through our CheckIn2Work app, managed over 178,000 cases, created 350 new jobs, and now have significant capacity to meet the needs of this new phase of the pandemic.

We’ve leveraged the hard-earned lessons from building the infrastructure, combined it with the expertise gained from 22 years as an occupational health services leader, and created an end-to-end solution to address OSHA’s COVID Emergency Temporary Standard. The solution integrates constantly evolving technology, with the compassionate case management services employers trust us to administer.

Q. Could you tell us about your services in brief?

We help organizations strategically address workplace health challenges across the spectrum, from mental and behavioral health and infectious disease control, to workplace injury case management, and OSHA COVID Compliance.

We are experts in the fields of workers’ compensation, disability case management and OSHA-mandated medical programs, and we’ve developed the technology to deliver 24/7 health screenings and services.

We’ve consulted employers on the management of OSHA health and safety mandates for over 22 years, and since the pandemic started, we’ve delivered OSHA COVID Compliance services to: Tyson Foods, MGM, Macy’s, Tractor Supply Company, Netflix, Little Caesars, and many other industry leaders.

Q. How important is the contribution of your team to the company’s success?

The executive team at Axiom Medical is comprised of 9 individuals who possess deep emotional intelligence coupled with IQ in equal measure. What I love is that we show ourselves authentically – no politics or pretense. We all have a phenomenal appetite for growth and willingness to adapt with feedback. There’s a level of trust, connection, and humor that is fertile ground for innovation.

The business could have faded during COVID, just like many others. The executive team brainstormed, developed new technology, services, and capabilities to keep employees safe and businesses open. We mapped out a plan on a Thursday and it was implemented within 4 days.

That vision and passion fueled the pace of innovation, and we’ve created 350 new jobs because of it. A big part of our success is measured by the opportunities we provide for others to grow and develop both personally and professionally.

Tell us about Axiom Medical’s work culture.

Culture is everything. And the transition to 100% remote work offered a new set of challenges to stay connected and collaborative. Because we care deeply care for one another, we check in, and we understand that our team members have lives outside of work and families to care for during a pandemic. We share personal stories, dog pictures, recipes, and bad dad jokes. We communicate when we need support, lift each other up, and share the load.

At the core of it, we are all servant leaders, leading on every level of the organization.

We also decided to stay 100% remote - permanently. It’s better for our collective carbon footprint and for our people to live healthier lives.

Q. How important are partnerships to Axiom Medical?

Partnerships are paramount to our success. Employers trust Axiom with their greatest asset and most delicate resource – employee well-being. Not only do we manage their employees’ medical records and sensitive data; but we are also accountable for the employee health journey. We take that level of trust seriously, constantly refine the security of our data cycle management, and hire compassionate nurse case managers to guide employees in the right direction.

We also have a large network of health partners, clinical support, laboratories, and vendors that are essential to our business operations. Communication must be abundant, timely, and accurate, so we can retrieve lab results (for example) and ensure people receive the care they need, when they need it.

Our cross-functional relationships are mission critical. For example, we have IT process driven linear thinkers alongside the wild-and-wacky creatives in the marketing department. We help them find common ground, think holistically, and work together to create an aligned and actionable vision of what’s next for Axiom Medical.

Q. How have you evolved since the onset of the pandemic?

We’ve evolved every aspect of our business, culture, and offerings to reflect the needs of the US workforce during the pandemic. As a business, we’ve expanded into new industries like film/media/event production to launch on-site COVID testing and lab services. As a culture, we went 100% remote and increased our employee count, engagement, and diversity.

And during the pandemic, we offered over 70 free public webinars to empower people with the tools and resources they need to stay informed and mitigate risk. We’ve grown faster, stronger, more agile, and expanded into unchartered territories. The experience was initially “fast, messy, awesome,” but we’ve built processes to make the pace more sustainable.

Q. Do you have any new services ready to be launched?

We’ve recently launched our OSHA COVID Compliance Solution which will help employers with policy development and support, securely track and store employee test results and vaccination status, then manage positive cases and help employees return to work safely.

Q. What does the future hold for your company and its customers?

The future of Axiom includes the expansion of our SaaS Ecosystem which will ease integrations and implementation for our clients. In Q1, we will expand our ecosystem to include mental and behavioral health offerings to increase access to wellness resources, preventive medicine, and give employees tools to name and navigate their emotional wellbeing.

We will continue to listen to the needs of the US workforce and innovate accordingly.

“We are experts in the fields of workers’ compensation, disability case management and OSHA-mandated medical programs, and we’ve developed the technology to deliver 24/7 health screenings and services.”

“We also decided to stay 100% remote - permanently. It’s better for our collective carbon footprint and for our people to live healthier lives.”