Sharecare and CareFirst sign wellness and disease management deal

The largest health insurer in America’s mid-Atlantic region has signed a four-year contract with digital health firm Sharecare, to provide members with wellness and disease management services.

Starting in 2019, Sharecare will provide the services to insurer CareFirst, which has also made an undisclosed strategic investment in the digital health firm.

CareFirst members will have access to a personalised mobile and web-based platform that will help them better understand their health, and take action to improve it.

Sharecare will combine its platform with customised elements that integrate with CareFirst’s clinical programmes, including its Patient-Centered Medical Home programme.

Founded by digital health pioneer Jeff Arnold, who also founded WebMD, and cardiac surgeon and host of the “Dr Oz Show”, Dr Mehmet Oz, Sharecare has been providing digital services and technology since 2010.

The new system will allow CareFirst members to connect via smartphones, wearable devices and other web-based technology, capturing information and data to coordinate care.

Additional services include digital health assessments, lifestyle and disease management coaching, tobacco cessation schemes and health challenges.

There will also be tools to help manage weight, nutrition and physical activity.

[caption id="attachment_35987" align="alignnone" width="320"] Chet Burrell[/caption]

CareFirst President and CEO Chet Burrell said: “Our wellness and disease management programme is designed to help identify our members who are at-risk for or living with a serious health condition and assist them in adopting healthier lifestyles through the better management of those conditions."

Burrell says that when aligned with its clinical programmes and capabilities, Sharecare’s technology, tools and expertise will allow members’ behaviours to be better understood. This will provide information to help these individuals make informed health care decisions and deliver incentives that motivate them to make changes.

Sharecare’s CEO Jeff Arnold said: “CareFirst continues to transform the delivery of healthcare to its members through its integrated model that enables care coordination between all key stakeholders; and our comprehensive digital platform and ability to engage people in their health – no matter where they are in their health journey – will serve to enhance that model, ultimately resulting in better outcomes and reduced costs.”