Last year Aetena launched their CarePass consumer website and mobile solution as part of its “What’s Your Healthy?” national campaign. However, the insurer has decided to phase out CarePass by the end of 2014.
“At this time, we have decided to make no further investments in the CarePass platform,” said Cynthia Michener, spokeswoman for Aetna. Current CarePass users will still have access to the platform for the time being and until its planned closing at the end of the year.
CarePass was designed for users to create, track, and achieve their health goals as well as featured a catalog of more than 20 health apps.
According to Health Data Management, Aetena said that while they are still creating technology-based solutions they need to evaluate their investments. While the benefits of mHealth are often discusses, the payers’ financial interest in minimizing their risk by actively promoting the health of their policymakers is not.
“The closure of Aetna’s CarePass illustrates the struggles companies in the digital health space are experiencing in developing and sustaining users, and business models to scale,” said Frost & Sullivan’s mHealth expert Daniel Ruppar.
Insurers are among the healthcare industry’s most important stakeholders and successfully taking the “mobile leap” requires a well-thought out strategy that weighs risks against rewards and identifies customer wants and needs.
Date: August 28, 2014