New initiative may revolutionise the consumer health experience
Earlier this week, US health insurer Aetna announced a partnership with Apple to create health initiatives that will be exclusive to iOS devices.
Aetna will be combining its analytics-based wellness and care management programmes with Apple products, including the Apple Watch, iPhone and iPad. The apps, which will be available in 2017, will personalise health plans, remind users when to take medications and be integrated with Apple wallet to pay monthly premiums, according to the company.
From this autumn, Aetna will make the Apple Watch available to select large employers and individual customers at discounted prices. It will also provide Apple Watches to nearly 50,000 employees, who will participate in its wellness programme, at no cost, ‘to encourage them to live more productive, healthy lives’.
The initial solutions under development are reportedly among the first health apps designed for multi-device use. “We are thrilled that Aetna will be helping their members and employees take greater control of their health using Apple Watch," said Apple’s CEO Tim Cook. “Aetna’s new initiatives will be a powerful force toward creating better customer experiences in healthcare, and we look forward to working with Aetna to make them successful.”
Aetna chairman and CEO Mark Bertolini expressed his excitement at the partnership: “We are incredibly excited to use iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch to create simple, intuitive and personalised technology solutions that will transform the health and wellness experience for our members. This is only the beginning – we look forward to using these tools to improve health outcomes and help more people achieve more healthy days.”