A recent study which cast skepticism on the effectiveness of fitness trackers isn't discouraging Aetna from pushing its members to buy Apple Watches.
The mega-insurer will provide free watches to its 50,000 employees beginning next year, as well as offer discounts on the popular device to its members. It has not specified how much it will discount the watches.
The employees will be able to use the watches as part of the company's existing wellness program, which reimburses workers who hit certain fitness targets. The watch will ideally make the program more sophisticated, however, allowing the company to more deeply analyze physical activity among its workforce.
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Aetna is integrating other parts of its wellness and care management program into the Apple Watch, iPhone and iPad. Users will now be able to check their deductible through the Apple Wallet, get daily reminders to take their medication, and even interact with nurses about treating an illness.
Ideally, the byzantine world of health insurance will become easier for consumers to understand and engage with if it can be quickly accessed through the device they spend half their life staring into. Or as Aetna CEO Mark Bertolini put it, integrating Aetna's plans with Apple products will produce "simple, intuitive and personalized technology solutions that will transform the health and wellness experience for our members."
Quick access to health consultations through a trusty Apple device will also ideally cut down on visits to the doctor's office or the ER, which is a happy outcome for patients, insurers, employers and U.S. taxpayers.
"Aetna's new initiatives will be a powerful force toward creating better customer experiences in health care, and we look forward to working with Aetna to make them successful," said Apple CEO Tim Cook in a statement announcing the new partnership.
A recent study released suggested that fitness trackers are not effective at getting users to lose weight and plenty of consumers and tech aficionados have cast plenty of doubt on the accuracy of various gadgets in measuring things like steps, heart rate and calories.
Generally, however, the Apple Watch has received plaudits from critics, which earned a solid review from Consumer Reports after the magazine tested its many different tracking features for accuracy.
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