With a monetary incentive for employees
It looks like wearables are making their way into the workplace with a brand spanking new program from Qualcomm and health insurance company UnitedHealthcare.
The two bigwigs are collaborating on a new incentive program for companies with 100-300 employees, that have qualifying insurance plans, in America.
Employees can earn up to $1,460 per year by meeting certain goals for the number of daily steps that are monitored through a free wearable provided by the program.
The wearable isn’t a specific brand, like a Fitbit or Jawbone – rather UnitedHealth notes it’s a “custom-designed wearable device” that can track the number of steps each user takes throughout the day, calculating the total number, frequency and intensity of the steps taken.
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The data is then sent to the UnitedHealthcare Motion app, which is powered by Qualcomm Life’s 2net Mobile, the company’s “medical grade connectivity” platform that’s in place to ensure patient privacy and security compliant with federal HIPAA rules.
It’s pretty clear now that Qualcomm is taking the jump into wearables even more seriously than previous years. The company is already readying its first dedicated wearable chip – the Snapdragon Wear 2100 for upcoming LG and Android Wear devices, plus it’s even plopping the tech inside non-wrist-ware wearables like smart leggings.
