Only One In Three Insured Consumers Wants Payer-Led mHealth

By Katie Wike, contributing writer

While mHealth is often touted as the best way to engage patients, one survey found less than one third of insured patients are interested in mobile wellness apps from payers.

Less than one third of consumers with health insurance are interested in participating in payer-sponsored wellness programs on their mobile devices. This revelation is according to a survey of more than 1,200 consumers with individual or employer-sponsored coverage.

“Even though mobile applications have incredible potential to help consumers manage their health, they are still in the early stages of growth,” said Bryce Williams, CEO and president of HealthMine according to MobiHealth News. “As plan sponsors evaluate apps for their wellness programs, they should look for those that incorporate actionable clinical data and personalization to increase engagement. But we’re still waiting for the ultimate oxymoron: a ‘killer app’ for wellness.”

Although 89 percent of survey respondents reported they owned a smartphone, only 30 percent indicated they would use a mobile wellnessprogram offered by their insurance provider. Even fewer, 18 percent, said they would prefer to use mobile apps to learn about health, wellness, and lifestyle information.

According to iHealth Beat, of those who already used their smartphones with mobile apps in the last six months:

• 21 percent said they had used apps for fitness tracking
• 16 percent said they had used apps for calorie counting
• 14 percent said they had used their smartphone for general health reference
• 11 percent said they had used their smartphone for nutritional reference
• 9 percent said they had used an app for stress management
• 8 percent said they had used an app to find a doctor
• 8 percent said they had used an app for prescription drug reference
• 4 percent said they had used an app for disease management
• 4 percent said they had used an app for smoking cessation