Wearables, Integration, Service Models, and New Partnerships a key focus at Connected Health Summit: Engaging Consumers

Digital health research from Parks Associates estimates 15 million U.S. broadband households are enrolled in a corporate wellness program, ranging from weight-loss programs to alcohol management courses. Additionally, nearly 30% of U.S. broadband households with at least one connected fitness device received the product with a corporate discount. The report Wearables for Health: Innovations and Disruptions notes that companies struggling with employee healthcare costs have launched these programs to control long-term expenses, which in turn creates new partnership opportunities for service providers, device makers, and insurers.

“Wearable devices and their apps represent new platforms through which healthcare industry players can encourage positive health and wellness behaviors,” said Harry Wang, Director, Health & Mobile Product Research, Parks Associates. “Employers will be particularly interested in wearables for health and wellness management. If usage leads to improved productivity, reduced work absence, lowered health bills, and cutbacks on health insurance premium payments, then employers can become a significant distribution channel for wearable device makers.”

Harry Wang will moderate multiple sessions at Connected Health Summit: Engaging Consumers, September 9-10 in San Diego, a unique event for all players in the connected health ecosystem, including device makers and distributors, service providers, insurance and health institutions, software and app developers, and brands and merchants. Featured panels focused on this area include:

• “Integrating Wearables for Consumer Care,” featuring executives from ARM, CEA, iHealth Labs, Lumo BodyTech, and National Sleep Foundation
• “Disrupting and Rebuilding: New Care Service Models for Consumers,” featuring executives from Cigna, Doctor on Demand, HealthSpot, iTriage, and MDLIVE
• “Making Sense of Partnerships in the Connected Health Market,” featuring executives from AARP, Dignity Health Telemedicine Network, Remedy Health Media, ROC-Connect, and Welltok

“Owners of a fitness or wellness device acquired through a corporate wellness program use the device much more frequently than owners without the benefit of a corporate discount,” Wang said. “Ownership of connected fitness trackers in the U.S. grew from about four million users at the beginning of 2013 to an estimated 15 million by the end of 2014. There are multiple opportunities for many players as this space continues to mature.”

Wearables for Health: Innovations and Disruptions examines new wearable products that support consumers’ health and wellness management and care providers’ monitoring of patients in and outside of the home. It analyzes the impact of the smart watch on the wearables market for health and wellness and provides forecasts of health and wellness wearables unit sales and revenues.

For information on Connected Health Summit, visit www.connectedhealthsummit.com. Follow the conference on Twitter at @CONN_Health_Smt and #ConnectedHealth15. To schedule a meeting with an analyst or speaker, contact Holly Sprague at hsprague@gmail.com, 720.987.6614.

About Parks Associates

Parks Associates, a woman-founded and certified business, is an internationally recognized market research and consulting company specializing in emerging consumer technology products and services. Founded in 1986, Parks Associates provides business intelligence and research services through its proprietary methodologies developed over decades, including quarterly surveys of 10,000 internet households.

The company's expertise crosses many industries: home security and smart home, streaming video, broadband and pay-TV services, digital media and platforms, gaming, Wi-Fi and home networks, connected health, support, consumer electronics, home control systems, energy management, and tech solutions for the multi-dwelling (MDU), small-to-medium business (SMB), and commercial building markets.

Each year, Parks Associates brings thousands of leaders together for its webinars and annual events. The firm hosts the annual executive research and strategy conferences CONNECTIONS™, Connected Health Summit, Smart Energy Summit, Smart Spaces, and Future of Video. https://www.parksassociates.com

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