Back in 2017 we learned that Apple and Aetna were having secret meetings about bringing Apple Watch to Aetna's 23 million customers. The two companies have now unveiled the fruit of those discussions.
It's a new program called Attain, which uses Apple Watch and an app to reward you for your activity and health goals. One of those goals includes earning back the Apple Watch Aetna gives you when you join the program.
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Attain is built around four ideas. The first is achieving activity goals in the Attain app, which provides you daily activity goals based on your age, sex and weight. This isn't limited to metrics like steps either, as Aetna says this includes activities as diverse as yoga and swimming.
In addition to daily goals, there are weekly goals that ask you to get a certain amount of sleep, increasing mindfulness and improving nutrition. The third bit is health recommendations, which will combine your health history with Aetna and Apple Watch's sensors.
The recommendations are created by a team of doctors based on clinical guidelines. At launch, the notifications will include basic reminders like meeting activity goals, getting vaccinations, refilling prescriptions, and availability of lower-cost lab tests and MRI scans.
Completing all of those goals and recommendations net you points, which you can then use to earn rewards, which include earning back your Apple Watch and getting gift cards to "popular national retailers". It's not clear which retailers you can expect, but it's likely that Apple - at the very least - could be an option.
Users will also have the option of sharing their health data with Apple, which will share the data with Aetna to tune machine learning algorithms to make more personalized health recommendations. You can share what health data you want and you can discontinue using Attain when you want. The health data is encrypted on device, in transit and on Apple and Aetna's servers.
The Attain app will rollout in Spring 2019. Aetna members can sign up to be notified of specific availability on the Attain website.
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By Husain Sumra
Husain joined Wareable in 2017 as a member of our San Fransisco based team. Husain is a movies expert, and runs his own blog, and contributes to MacRumors.
He has spent hours in the world of virtual reality, getting eyes on Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and Samsung Gear VR.
At Wareable, Husain's role is to investigate, report and write features and news about the wearable industry – from smartwatches and fitness trackers to health devices, virtual reality, augmented reality and more.
He writes buyers guides, how-to content, hardware reviews and more.