{"id":1524,"date":"2017-01-19T18:47:26","date_gmt":"2017-01-19T18:47:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/healthadvocate.dev.thinkbrownstone.com\/?p=1524"},"modified":"2020-01-14T17:32:25","modified_gmt":"2020-01-14T22:32:25","slug":"fitness-tracking-devices-lower-health-care-costs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.healthadvocate.com\/site\/article\/fitness-tracking-devices-lower-health-care-costs","title":{"rendered":"Can fitness tracking devices lower your health care costs?"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Rachel Newman | Medill Reports Chicago
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Greg Madden isn\u2019t the man he used to be.<\/p>\n

In 2016, the 23-year-old Homewood, Ill., resident embarked on a fitness journey that would turn him into the kind of \u201chealth nut\u201d he once mocked. Since June, he\u2019s lost 75 pounds, down from a high of 280.<\/p>\n

Madden credits his success to a rigorous diet and exercise regimen. But he also had a tool to help him stay motivated: his Fitbit Blaze, a watch that tracks heart rate and physical activity.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s become a part of my everyday regime to the point where I never leave the house without it,\u201d Madden said.<\/p>\n

Though Madden is skeptical about the accuracy of his Fitbit, he says that seeing his step count or heart rate motivates him to work harder at the gym and move around more at his job in an engineering firm.<\/p>\n

Employers and health care companies are wondering if they can harness the power of wearable fitness trackers to help consumers replicate Madden\u2019s success. Companies hope that motivating users to exercise will help drive down long-term health care costs.<\/p>\n

UnitedHealth Group Inc., the largest health insurance company in the United States, announced a partnership with Fitbit Inc. in January. The Fitbit Charge 2 is the latest fitness tracking device to be integrated into the UnitedHealth Motion rewards program.<\/p>\n

Program enrollees can earn up to $4 a day, or about $1,500 a year, in Health Savings Account or Health Reimbursement Account credits if they hit designated activity goals.<\/p>\n

UnitedHealth customers have earned more than $255 million in incentives for healthy behavior, said UnitedHealth President David Wichmann in a conference call with investors on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, increasing physical activity may drive down health care costs long term, UnitedHealth stated in a press release accompanying the announcement of the Fitbit partnership.<\/p>\n

People who walk 10,000 steps a day will use less than $5,000 in health care services annually, compared with $12,000 annually for people who walk less than 2,000 steps a day, according to a 2014 study conducted for UnitedHealth by research firm Savvy Sherpa.<\/p>\n

The announcement of UnitedHealth\u2019s partnership with Fitbit comes amid turbulent times for the fitness company, which posted disappointing third quarter earnings in November. Though Fitbit reported a 23 percent revenue increase, a 43 percent decline in profit and a shortfall from projected holiday sales led to a 33 percent drop in the company\u2019s stock the day following its earnings release.<\/p>\n

These results may suggest that consumers are turning away from activity tracking devices, which some experts say may not lead to long-term weight loss.<\/p>\n

Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh found that adults using wearable fitness tracking devices in addition to dieting and exercising lost an average of about 7.7 pounds over the course of two years. But adults who did not use such a device lost about 13 pounds over the same period of time.<\/p>\n

Studies have also shown that many fitness tracking devices end up abandoned shortly after they\u2019re purchased. A third of adults who own a fitness tracker stop using the device after six months, according to research firm Endeavor Partners.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople tend to get them and are excited about them up front because it\u2019s something new, but the longevity and use of that declines over time,\u201d said Pam Mortenson, executive vice president at Health Advocate Solutions.<\/strong><\/p>\n

But financial incentives, such as earning credits towards future health care expenses, may motivate people to use their fitness tracking devices more consistently, she added.<\/strong><\/p>\n

While it\u2019s too early to tell if wearable technology can drive down health care costs for the general population, some devices can benefit patients managing chronic conditions such as diabetes or high blood pressure, Mortenson said.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Chronic conditions account for 86 percent of annual health care spending in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Annual health care spending came to more than $3 trillion in 2015, the CDC reported.<\/strong><\/p>\n

For all patients using health data tracking devices, technology can\u2019t replace the value of person-to-person communication. It\u2019s important to have a health care professional or fitness coach to interpret the data that\u2019s being collected, said Colin Roberts, vice president of product strategy for West Corp.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThe technology is great as a tool, but if there isn\u2019t someone there to act on the data you\u2019ve collected, then you\u2019re not going to see the results,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cIn some instances you can see that you walked 15,000 steps today, but what does that mean?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

For Greg Madden, Roberts\u2019 observation has certainly held true. Though he likes his Fitbit, the real secret ingredient to his weight loss has been his fitness coach, who sends him activity challenges through the Fitbit app and helps him analyze the data he\u2019s collecting.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, the numbers might not necessarily matter,\u201d Madden said. \u201cWhen you look at the numbers and where you are off of your body, it makes you want to push harder.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Rachel Newman | Medill Reports Chicago Greg Madden isn\u2019t the man he used to be. In 2016, the 23-year-old Homewood, Ill., resident embarked on a fitness journey that would turn him into the kind of \u201chealth nut\u201d he once mocked. Since June, he\u2019s lost 75 pounds, down from a high of 280. Madden credits […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":1096,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[79,80,78,69,47],"class_list":["post-1524","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","tag-fitness","tag-tracking","tag-wearable","tag-wellness","tag-wellness-program"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\r\nCan fitness tracking devices lower your health care costs? | Health Advocate<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Employers and health care companies are using wearable fitness trackers to help consumers improve health and reduce costs.\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.healthadvocate.com\/site\/article\/fitness-tracking-devices-lower-health-care-costs\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Can fitness tracking devices lower your health care costs?\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Employers and health care companies are using wearable fitness trackers to help consumers improve health and reduce costs.\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.healthadvocate.com\/site\/article\/fitness-tracking-devices-lower-health-care-costs\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Health Advocate\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/healthadvocateinc\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-01-19T18:47:26+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-01-14T22:32:25+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.healthadvocate.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/brokers-consultants-5-1024x683.jpg\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"683\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Courtney Prizer\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@healthadvocate\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@healthadvocate\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Courtney Prizer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.healthadvocate.com\/site\/article\/fitness-tracking-devices-lower-health-care-costs#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.healthadvocate.com\/site\/article\/fitness-tracking-devices-lower-health-care-costs\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Courtney Prizer\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.healthadvocate.com\/site\/#\/schema\/person\/9984a3e06e0e3601b515b35fc5c9c0df\"},\"headline\":\"Can fitness tracking devices lower your health care costs?\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-01-19T18:47:26+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-01-14T22:32:25+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.healthadvocate.com\/site\/article\/fitness-tracking-devices-lower-health-care-costs\"},\"wordCount\":826,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.healthadvocate.com\/site\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.healthadvocate.com\/site\/article\/fitness-tracking-devices-lower-health-care-costs#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.healthadvocate.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/brokers-consultants-5.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"fitness\",\"tracking\",\"wearable\",\"wellness\",\"wellness program\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Article\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.healthadvocate.com\/site\/article\/fitness-tracking-devices-lower-health-care-costs\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.healthadvocate.com\/site\/article\/fitness-tracking-devices-lower-health-care-costs\",\"name\":\"Can fitness tracking devices lower your health care costs? 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