UnitedHealthcare is ramping up its employer wellness program Motion, powered by Qualcomm Life’s 2Net connectivity platform, by adding Samsung and Garmin as partners. It comes at a time when insurers are more closely aligning themselves with fitness tracking wearables and smartwatch companies particularly as Aetna has done with Apple.
The Motion program pays employees up to $4 per day in financial incentives if they fulfill activity goals based on walking or jogging a certain amount each day within a certain period of time, according to a company news release.
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Garmin vivosmart 3
Participants who own Samsung Gear Fit2 Pro and Gear Sport, and Garmin’s vívosmart3, along with Fitbit Charge 2 can track their progress against their Motion fitness goals for the program.
Additionally, Samsung’s products can track swimming activity, such as lap counts and stroke type, and heart rate.
Samsung Gear Fit2 Pro
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Although employer wellness programs have received mixed reviews, they can make the user experience for wearables owners stickier, creating an added incentive for technology companies to align themselves with insurers. They also give these technology companies and insurers more insights into their members/customers.
“By leveraging insurers’ ability to reach consumers with new healthcare technology solutions, there is potential to positively impact a much broader range of conditions such as diabetes, obesity, chronic pain and even vision problems.” said Kevin Jones, Samsung Electronics America Senior Director for Digital Health, said in an email. “It’s exciting to see how technology firms and healthcare payers are coming together to form mutually beneficial relationships focused on improving patient outcomes, lowering the cost of care and empowering patients to take a more direct role in managing their personal health and wellness.”
Paul Sterling, vice president of emerging products for UnitedHealthcare said in an email that data from these programs help give insurers a better understanding of their members.
“This type of data helps people, employers and health plans create new approaches to consumer engagement and drive health ownership. In the future, we are working to use wearable health technologies that provide real-time biometric feedback, helping people understand the connection between daily micro-behaviors and long-term health, acute and chronic-care management, and health care costs. By putting real-time data in peoples’ hands and encouraging them to become more active, we help people take charge of their health and pursue their fitness goals.”
Image: AdrianHillman, Getty Images
