The Ireland Portugal Business Network is delighted to spotlight Dr. Shane Farrelly, MFOM, following his recent appointment as European Clinical Director at HealthNEXT — a clinically led, AI-enabled population-health platform founded by Dr. Ray Fabius. HealthNEXT’s mission, as Dr. Farrelly explains, is simple but transformative: To make workforce health measurable, auditable, and investable.

In his new role, Dr. Farrelly helps organisations translate workforce-health data into measurable business intelligence — proving that employee wellbeing is not just a moral imperative but a driver of resilience, productivity, and ESG performance. “We bridge clinical science, data analytics, and governance so companies can demonstrate, with confidence, how health contributes to sustainable performance under the EU’s CSRD and ESRS frameworks,” he says.

Dr. Farrelly’s research into the social determinants of health (SDOH) and the link between ESG compliance and financial performance is revealing some powerful insights. He told the IPBN, “Across Europe, workforce-health costs exceed £3,000 per employee per year, yet programmes that address social determinants routinely achieve 120–180% ROI within two years.” 

In Portugal and Ireland, where SMEs dominate, even modest initiatives — such as ergonomic design, mental-health literacy, and preventive screening — can yield measurable improvements in engagement and retention. “It’s a clear case of doing good to do well,” Dr. Farrelly adds.

With Portugal now transposing the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) into national law, Dr. Farrelly sees both opportunity and urgency.

“Environmental reporting is well established, but the ‘S’ in ESG — health, inclusion, and wellbeing — is still developing,” he says.

HealthNEXT supports organisations by embedding clinical governance and AI-assisted analytics to create an auditable Culture of Health Score. This, he notes, provides “board-level assurance and aligns social reporting with financial credibility — turning compliance into competitive advantage.”

Reflecting on insights from the recent ICOH Global Leadership Roundtable in Naples, Dr. Farrelly highlights a paradigm shift underway in occupational health:

“We’re moving from a reactive to a preventive model — from workplace safety to population-health management.”

For employers in Portugal and Ireland, this means rethinking health as strategic capital, not merely compliance. “Organisations that treat health as strategic capital are the ones that will sustain productivity and meet ESG expectations,” he says. “Public-private partnerships and clinically governed frameworks like HealthNEXT are key to that shift.”

Through partnerships with MDS Group and Brokerslink, HealthNEXT is helping companies link prevention and performance — integrating workforce-health metrics directly into risk and insurance strategies. Dr. Farrelly emphasizes the importance of tracking “absence and cause analysis, presenteeism, retention, satisfaction, and equity of care.”

“These are no longer HR metrics — they are investor-grade ESG indicators that influence credit ratings, insurer pricing, and corporate resilience.”

As both an IPBN and BPCC member, Dr. Farrelly sees the Ireland–Portugal corridor as an ideal proving ground for ESG-health innovation. His invitation is simple: "Start measuring what matters,” he says. “Through IPBN, BPCC, and partners like MDS Group and Brokerslink, we’re building a cross-border dialogue that helps businesses demonstrate resilience through the health of their people.”

Dr. Farrelly encourages members to benchmark their own Culture of Health Score, host joint ESG-health workshops, or explore proof-of-concept projects with HealthNEXT. After all, you can’t have sustainable business without a sustainable workforce.