A majority of consumers could be enticed to use a health or fitness tracking device in exchange for a lower health insurance premium or other benefit, according to a survey from TechnologyAdvice.
The survey of more than 900 adults found just 25.1 percent use health or fitness trackers. However, most respondents would be willing to do so with some kind of financial incentive — 48.2 percent said they would use one if it came free from a physician, 46.1 percent said they would use one if their insurance company gave them one and 57 percent would use a tracker for a reduced insurance premium.
"Healthcare providers and health insurance companies are two of the largest stakeholders in the promotion of fitness tracking devices, and they have an opportunity to greatly influence their use," said the report’s author, TechnologyAdvice Managing Editor Cameron Graham. "This survey revealed there are few real barriers to using health wearables, and also indicated adoption rates would increase if their use was incentivized by the healthcare community. If healthcare providers worked in tandem with health insurance companies, both stakeholders could benefit from the collected population health data."
More findings from the study are available here.
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