Ok here we go first out of the box to connect and want you vital stats with using Apple Health is Humana.  Well first of all what happened to the doctor in the picture here?  As this article goes on to say, Humana wants to catch particular items about your health now.  So we also know they do phenomenal risk assessments on every tidbit of information they gather about, so what’s the real deal here, make you healthier imageor collect more non relevant data to use to define more risk assessments?  We already know insurers are driving themselves off the cliff with the expensive data analytics and those things too are included in the cost of what you pay for premiums too. 


So here’s the incentive, send us your data and we’ll try to make it worth your while and you can earn points to do all kinds of things.  In addition, HumanaVitality has a Facebook page so more “bait” there to get you incentivized to send data to them.  We all know insurers make money selling data as well and here’s an example of a partnership of Humana working with a drug company to do so. 


So again I follow the data and money and I’m always thinking about “what are they going to do with that data”.  You might consider that line of thought as well today and not only Humana but ask that question whenever there’s someone wanting your data.  What kind of business are they in?  What kind of other companies do they work with?  This is a wellness program run an insurer here, as even if you don’t see the name, many insurers, like United for example, own a ton of wellness companies that operate under other name.  One thing to also keep in mind is that insurers and Humana uses software at their call centers to record and evaluate your current state of mind when you are on the phone with them as well.


HumanaVitality is not an insurance company but is rather owned and run by one, Humana.  It’s already been out there in the news that devices and wearables not improving care so again where’s this going, the answer is risk management which can also impact what your premiums are.  So again here’s another example of of how insurers are driving themselves off the cliff.  Wellness is a good thing but the companies come in all shapes and sizes and folks I have spoken with that work for big companies say they tried it, the processes became too invasive so they quit as they were not benefiting.  There are some companies in wellness that do things right but again you find most of those are not in the “data” business and put forth a more human and personal effort to connect with users.  Again by now we should all know about the data selling epidemic n the US we have today and would it not be nice to be able to see exactly what kind of data Humana sells and to who?  So going in blind here without the whole story on the data certainly leaves a big area of privacy and distrust open.  I had already posted about this before when it was said Apple was talking to insurers and there’s no question at all with the layers of distrust.


I have a campaign for this to get Congress to enact a law to require all data sellers to buy a license and be transparent about what kind of data they sell and to whom and if we had that in this instance, Humana could see more participation but as it stands now with connecting to AppleHealth, it appears to just be one more on the list of collecting data to sell and score.  Doctors are usually better though at monitoring health conditions I think than insurers.  Link to the campaign below.

Privacy Campaign for Transparency with Consumer Data – Need to License all data sellers

One thing to keep in mind too is that Humana makes a big portion of their income from selling Medicare Advantage plans.  There’s a lot of competition as Humana just lost a big contract to the “too big to fail” United Healthcare.  The writer of this article too is mistaken a bit pushing saving money with telehealth and devices and was written by someone outside the industry.  Anyway when the Apple watch shows up, I would expect to see even more push from Humans to get your data, again more “score and sell”.  BD 


Humana (NYSE: HUM  ) is one of the country's largest healthcare insurers, and soon Humana's members will be able to seamlessly share their Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL  ) Health information with Humana's HumanaVitality rewards program.

That program provides perks to members who reach fitness goals, but the potential opportunity for Humana and Apple stretches far beyond tracking trips to the gym.

To help rein in its share of those costs, Humana launched HumanaVitality, a free app in the Apple App store that can link members' fitness devices to the Apple Health app. That health information can then be shared with Humana to earn points, which can be redeemed for perks like fitness equipment and movie tickets.

But its not just members that benefit from this kind of data sharing. By encouraging members to populate electronic records with important health data, healthcare payers like Humana may be able to identify health risks sooner. If so, healthcare providers could intervene with less costly care prior to an expensive hospitalization. Additionally, by leveraging data across a large number of users, Humana may be able to spot important health trends that it can use to improve patient care, and lower costs, too.

For Humana, the ability to gather real-time member health data could prove game-changing, too. That's because technology could eventually allow it to revolutionize how we diagnose and offer healthcare. For example, technology could someday allow providers to offer low cost mobile telehealth services that could reduce in-office doctor visits and hospital readmissions. Given that backdrop, it's likely we'll see even more health payers like Humana launch increasingly robust healthcare apps for members in the future, so stay tuned.



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