UnitedHealthcare adds Samsung and Garmin wearables to its wellness program

Samsung Gear Fit2 Pro

Qualcomm Life has helped UnitedHealthcare integrate wearable devices from Samsung and Garmin into UnitedHealthcare Motion, a national wellness program that provides eligible plan participants access to activity trackers and enables them to earn more than $1,000 per year by meeting certain daily walking goals.

The Samsung Gear Fit2 Pro and Gear Sport, and the Garmin vĂ­vosmart 3, have been integrated and validated with Qualcomm Life’s 2net platform for medical-grade connectivity that features multiple safeguards to help keep data secure. UnitedHealthcare Motion participants who already own one of these devices may be able to use them with the program.

UnitedHealthcare Motion is available to employers with self-funded and fully insured health plans nationwide. The program enables employees to earn up to $4 per day in financial incentives based on achieving F.I.T. goals:

  • Frequency – complete 500 steps within seven minutes six times per day, at least an hour apart;
  • Intensity – complete 3,000 steps within 30 minutes; and
  • Tenacity – complete 10,000 total steps each day.

The activity trackers, which are available to plan participants at no additional charge or through upgrade options that enable people to purchase leading activity trackers at preferred prices, have been customized to enable users to see on their wrists how they are tracking against the program’s three daily F.I.T. goals. Research shows people who consistently achieve the F.I.T. goals tend to improve their health and reduce their medical expenses.

“The enhancements to UnitedHealthcare Motion enable the program to offer companies and their employees more digital health and wellness resources that are personalized, connected and intuitive,” Sam Ho, M.D., chief medical officer of UnitedHealthcare, said in a statement. “We are expanding the portfolio of available devices to make UnitedHealthcare Motion more flexible, convenient and consumer friendly.”

Since UnitedHealthcare Motion’s inception, participants have collectively walked more than 130 billion steps and earned more than $19 million in rewards. Among eligible employees, 66 percent registered their devices, with more than two-thirds of those staying active with the program for more than one year.