Health insurer UnitedHealthcare and Qualcomm Life, a health services subsidiary of telecommunications equipment provider Qualcomm, announced enhancements to UnitedHealthcare Motion, a wellness program that provides employees with activity trackers and enables them to earn up to $1,500 per year by meeting certain goals for daily activities.
The two companies first introduced UnitedHealthcare Motion in 2016 as a pilot in 12 states to select employers, using Qualcomm Life’s 2net Platform for medical-grade connectivity. Following the successful test, the program was expanded to 40 states and will now include access to additional customized activity trackers through a ‘bring-your-own-device’ (BYOD) model.
The Fitbit Charge 2 will be the newest activity tracker integrated and validated with 2net and UnitedHealthcare Motion in this BYOD model. The custom feature can be activated during early 2017 on any Charge 2 device in market by any eligible program participant.
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Wearables used in the UnitedHealthcare Motion program enable employees to earn up to $4 per day in credits based on F.I.T. goals, which stands for frequency of walking goals (six times per day with 300 steps within five minutes at least one hour apart), intensity (3,000 steps within 30 minutes) and tenacity (10,000 total steps each day).
Employers can obtain savings based on program participants’ combined F.I.T. results. People who consistently achieve the F.I.T. goals tend to improve their health and reduce their medical expenses, the companies said.
Qualcomm Life will provide secure data transfer from the devices to the Motion app and to UnitedHealthcare. Qualcomm Life will also enable the BYOD model to allow the integration of more activity trackers into the 2net Platform and UnitedHealthcare Motion, providing participants with more choice. Integrated activity trackers will be customized to enable users to see on their wrists how they are tracking against the program’s three daily F.I.T. goals.
UnitedHealth Group chief medical officer Richard Migliori, MD said in a statement that the program showcases the potential for connected health and wellness programs to benefit companies and employees alike.
“Wearable technology can help encourage employees to walk each day and earn financial rewards at the same time,” Migliori added.
The program is now available to self-funded employers with five or more eligible employees, and companies with fully insured health plans with 101 or more eligible employees.
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