Hoping to save on costs, insurance companies such as Aetna will rely on easy-to-use smartphone apps to encourage policy holders to monitor their health data and lead a healthier lifestyle. Aetna, one of the well-known health insurance providers in the world, announced that it will roll out this week CarePass, a mobile app that will help consumers set their health goals, track their fitness and overall health.
Martha Wofford, Aetna's vice president for consumer platform, spoke about CarePass on June 10 during the Mobile Summit in San Francisco hosted by MIT Technology Review.
During her presentation at the conference, Wofford talked about using consumer healthcare data to provide individuals with useful tools that will make them focus on managing their fitness and overall health better.
"Consumers are using their mobile phones. About a third of U.S. adults use their mobile device to access healthcare in 2012 but they want to do a lot more. Almost three-quarters would like to refill prescriptions on the go, 68 percent want online or mobile appointment booking," Wofford cited statistics and opportunities in mobile healthcare.
She also noted that there are about 50,000 healthcare apps mostly about fitness and nutrition and availability of sensors that provides a lot of data.
"We have created CarePass to make healthcare more convenient and more connected," she added.
CarePass will allow users to set health goals and track their progress. The app aims to help customers integrate health data so they can focus on their health management and eventually on their health and fitness.
"It [Carepass] hopefully shifts you from thinking about healthcare to thinking about your health," Wofford said.
Aetna's CarePass will be able to connect with other healthcare mobile apps that will allow them to get health information, track body measurements, monitor amount of exercise, see how much they sleep, among others.
CarePass will be linked to iTriage, a healthcare software that Aetna Health acquired in 2012. The iTriage mobile app has been downloaded more than nine million times and continues to help patients with diagnosis and symptom information.
According to MIT Technology Review, Aetna will first release CarePass for individuals but eventually will have a portal for employers as well.
Wofford said during the roundtable discussion that the use of healthcare apps may pave the way for wellness incentives of as much as 30 percent based on the Affordable Care Act. The apps may also help employers encourage their workforce to lead a healthier lifestyle, pay lesser premiums amid rising healthcare cost and be more productive at work.
Update: The CarePass app was formally launched Tuesday, June 18.
