HCI 2018 Las Vegas

1. Rewarding Fitness Tracking —
The Communication and Promotion of
Health Insurers’ Bonus Programs and
the Use of Self-Tracking Data
Maria Henkel1, Tamara Heck2, and Julia Göretz1
1Heinrich Heine University, Düsseldorf, Germany
2University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, Australia

2. Rewarding Fitness Tracking — The Communication
and Promotion of Health Insurers’ Bonus Programs
and the Use of Self-Tracking Data
2
Introduction &
Research Questions
Methods &
Limitations
Results
Conclusion &
Discussion

3. Rewarding Fitness Tracking — The Communication
and Promotion of Health Insurers’ Bonus Programs
and the Use of Self-Tracking Data
3
Self-tracking by…
… smart devices (e.g. smartphone, smartwatch, tracker)
that automatically track activities
… manual entry of activities by the user in an
information system (e.g. website, mobile application)
INTRODUCTION
Self-tracking / self-monitoring / ‘quantified self’

4. Rewarding Fitness Tracking — The Communication
and Promotion of Health Insurers’ Bonus Programs
and the Use of Self-Tracking Data
4INTRODUCTION
Example for self-tracked data
1342
steps
0.5
miles
40.26
calories

5. Rewarding Fitness Tracking — The Communication
and Promotion of Health Insurers’ Bonus Programs
and the Use of Self-Tracking Data
5
Introducing research in progress while firstly focusing on the
countries Germany and Australia:
1. Which health insurers offer options for clients to self-track
health and fitness data?
2. How do insurers communicate about the programs?
3. How do those insurers communicate about data security
and privacy?
1
2
3
INTRODUCTION
Research questions

6. Rewarding Fitness Tracking — The Communication
and Promotion of Health Insurers’ Bonus Programs
and the Use of Self-Tracking Data
6
Introduction &
Research Questions
Methods &
Limitations
Results
Conclusion &
Discussion

7. Rewarding Fitness Tracking — The Communication
and Promotion of Health Insurers’ Bonus Programs
and the Use of Self-Tracking Data
7
Scope the landscape (February 2018) of health
insurance self-tracking programs in Germany
and Australia:
• Review of health insurance websites
• Review of media reports (news articles,
blogs, and insurance comparison services)
78 insurers
Scoping review
METHOD

8. Rewarding Fitness Tracking — The Communication
and Promotion of Health Insurers’ Bonus Programs
and the Use of Self-Tracking Data
8
Germany
 30 statutory health insurers
 10 private health insurers
(of 110 health insurers)
METHOD
Health insurers
Australia
 38 private health insurers
(of 38 private health insurers)

9. Rewarding Fitness Tracking — The Communication
and Promotion of Health Insurers’ Bonus Programs
and the Use of Self-Tracking Data
9
 Results rely on information published by health insurers
(lack of completeness, accuracy and consistency)
 No personal communication with health insurers for more
profound information
 Restricted evaluation of app functions (due to limited access)
LIMITATIONS

10. Rewarding Fitness Tracking — The Communication
and Promotion of Health Insurers’ Bonus Programs
and the Use of Self-Tracking Data
10
Introduction &
Research Questions
Methods &
Limitations
Results
Conclusion &
Discussion

11. Rewarding Fitness Tracking — The Communication
and Promotion of Health Insurers’ Bonus Programs
and the Use of Self-Tracking Data
11
Results
2. How do insurers
communicate about
programs?
3. How do insurers
communicate about data
security and privacy?
1. Do insurers offer self-
tracking programs?

12. Rewarding Fitness Tracking — The Communication
and Promotion of Health Insurers’ Bonus Programs
and the Use of Self-Tracking Data
12
1. Do insurers offer self-tracking programs?
6; 15%
34; 85%
German health insurers (n=40)
7; 18%
31; 82%
Australian health insurers (n=38)
RESULTS
Self-tracking options No self-tracking options

13. Rewarding Fitness Tracking — The Communication
and Promotion of Health Insurers’ Bonus Programs
and the Use of Self-Tracking Data
13
Family Adventure
with Fred
Sijox AppLife
Tracked data:
steps
(heart rate)
(caloric deficit)
(km)
…
Points
Rewards:
monetary
reward
gift rewards
discounts
…
RESULTS
1. Do insurers offer self-tracking programs?

14. Rewarding Fitness Tracking — The Communication
and Promotion of Health Insurers’ Bonus Programs
and the Use of Self-Tracking Data
14
My Pocket Health Well-Being Plus App Qantas Assure App
RESULTS
1. Do insurers offer self-tracking programs?

15. Rewarding Fitness Tracking — The Communication
and Promotion of Health Insurers’ Bonus Programs
and the Use of Self-Tracking Data
15
Results
3. How do insurers
communicate about data
security and privacy?
1. Do insurers offer self-
tracking programs?
2. How do insurers
communicate about
programs?

16. Rewarding Fitness Tracking — The Communication
and Promotion of Health Insurers’ Bonus Programs
and the Use of Self-Tracking Data
16
“take your health seriously”
“let your children develop a healthy lifestyle”
• No prominent advertisement for activity tracking
• Promotion for the health programs in general (activity
tracking is included) regarding…
…prevent illness and promote health /
family well-being
…the reward (money: cashback or credit)
…the advantages of their own app
“a healthy lifestyle pays for you”
“good for your health and for your pocket”
“available 24 h”
“completely mobile, fast and save“
RESULTS
2. How do insurers communicate about programs?

17. Rewarding Fitness Tracking — The Communication
and Promotion of Health Insurers’ Bonus Programs
and the Use of Self-Tracking Data
17
Insurer Rewards App Promotion emphasizes…
GMHBA Limited
via AIA
Vitality points
external
provider
rewards: “know your health, improve
your health, enjoy the rewards”
HBF - in-house
application: easy management of
health and fitness related information,
data, and documents
HCF -
external
provider
health: personalized fitness and eating
plans
NIB Health
Funds Ltd.
(Qantas Assure)
via Qantas
frequent flyer
points
external
provider
rewards: “wellness rewards”
St. Lukes Health -
external
provider
health: “preventative health”, “members
who are generally healthy […] to help
you look after your health”
RESULTS
Example Australian insurers (selection)

18. Rewarding Fitness Tracking — The Communication
and Promotion of Health Insurers’ Bonus Programs
and the Use of Self-Tracking Data
18
Results
1. Do insurers offer self-
tracking programs?
2. How do insurers
communicate about
programs?
3. How do insurers
communicate about data
security and privacy?

19. Rewarding Fitness Tracking — The Communication
and Promotion of Health Insurers’ Bonus Programs
and the Use of Self-Tracking Data
19
German Health Insurers
e.g. AOK Nordost & BARMER
• Strong emphasis on data security
when communicating about their
tracking services
• Only the bonus points for the bonus
program and no actual fitness data
is collected and stored
e.g. Signal Iduna & IKK
• Data Privacy issues are not
communicated clearly
• Hidden Information about data
handling
• Vague language
• Uncertainty about which data is stored
RESULTS
3. How do insurers communicate about data security
and privacy?

20. Rewarding Fitness Tracking — The Communication
and Promotion of Health Insurers’ Bonus Programs
and the Use of Self-Tracking Data
20
Reward Provider
(e.g. AIA)
External App ProviderSelf-tracking option
data data
RESULTS
3. How do insurers communicate about data security
and privacy?
Australian Health Insurers

21. Rewarding Fitness Tracking — The Communication
and Promotion of Health Insurers’ Bonus Programs
and the Use of Self-Tracking Data
21
Introduction &
Research Questions
Methods &
Limitations
Results
Conclusion &
Discussion

22. Rewarding Fitness Tracking — The Communication
and Promotion of Health Insurers’ Bonus Programs
and the Use of Self-Tracking Data
22CONCLUSION
• 13 insurers in Germany and Australia offer self-tracking options
• German insurers offer their own programs and apps /
Australian insurers rely on third-party providers
• Communication about programs is similar in both countries
(depending on reward possibilities)
• Concerns arise with data privacy statements
(especially in connection with third parties)
• German insurers seem more concerned about data privacy than
Australian insurers

23. Rewarding Fitness Tracking — The Communication
and Promotion of Health Insurers’ Bonus Programs
and the Use of Self-Tracking Data
23
What about the individual needs and
circumstances?
What about concerns about the sharing of
activity data?
What about financially unprivileged
people?
What about the relationship between health
insurers and external reward providers?
DISCUSSION

24. Rewarding Fitness Tracking — The Communication
and Promotion of Health Insurers’ Bonus Programs
and the Use of Self-Tracking Data
24
Thank you for your attention
maria.henkel@hhu.de | heck@dipf.de | julia.goeretz@hhu.de