Sunday, December 1, 2013

Runtastic, Aetna and iTriage

In my previous post, I had mentioned how technology is becoming more and more important in providing a more informative experience to patients. More than ever users can take their health into their own hands through their smartphone. Apps are becoming more popular in use for those who are taking steps in maintaining or starting a healthier lifestyle. Yet many questions come to light about these apps, especially since apps can be created by anyone as long as they know how to program. The main question is: Does the app really work? 

Personally, I rely on one of these apps and I find it to be very useful. I can track my running speeds, distances and my progress. As someone who is training for a marathon I find this to be helpful in planning out my training. The app I use is runtastic; it records your progress and even lets you know how far you are along while you are running. Runtastic also is connected to a community dedicated to an active lifestyle, so if a user would like to discuss concerns or questions with other active people it is an option.


Above is what the interface of runtastic looks like, it can help someone map out their run or even give them motivation for their next run. There is even a ghost run feature where you can compete with one of your previous runs. Runtastic is one of the best apps to track running which is one of the best activities because it is preventative for so many health issues.  

Health care companies

Aetna is one of the healthcare companies that is looking into the future by making available apps to its insurance customers. Aetna’s CEO Bertolini understands that it is difficult for healthcare companies to make drastic changes after operating the same way for so many years. Aetna has created apps that have given users their health information at the palm of their hand allowing them to make informed decisions. Bertolini also understands that our healthcare system should be geared towards maintaining health rather than acting during an illness. Aetna is working on about 200 health products that are projected to bring in revenue of $1.5 billion in the next year. Aetna has acquired healthagen, a start up company that has created the app iTriage.
iTriage can…
  • Emergency rooms
  • Doctors
  • Diseases
  • Keep track of the medications
  • Personal Information

Aetna planned on adding more information for consumers; that focuses on providing financial information to them. By integrating their medical information; patients will be able to calculate out of pocket costs between an in network provider and an out of network provider.
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1 comment:

  1. I love the health apps. They're several that I utilize on my phone. Granted I have not used the Runtastic app, I do use the Nike run app and have the iTriage app on my phone. One other app that I really use a lot, being that I weight lift more than i cardio, is JetFit. It really helps me track my lifting progress and I also love how it shows you how to properly do the exercises.

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