University of Potsdam Reports Findings in Medical Informatics (Adopting wearables to customize health insurance contributions: a ranking-type Delphi): Health Information Technology – Medical Informatics

2022 MAY 11 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- New research on Health Information Technology - Medical Informatics is the subject of a report. According to news originating from Potsdam, Germany, by NewsRx correspondents, research stated, “Wearables, as small portable computer systems worn on the body, can track user fitness and health data, which can be used to customize health insurance contributions individually. In particular, insured individuals with a healthy lifestyle can receive a reduction of their contributions to be paid.”

Our news journalists obtained a quote from the research from the University of Potsdam, “However, this potential is hardly used in practice. This study aims to identify which barrier factors impede the usage of wearables for assessing individual risk scores for health insurances, despite its technological feasibility, and to rank these barriers according to their relevance. To reach these goals, we conduct a ranking-type Delphi study with the following three stages. First, we collected possible barrier factors from a panel of 16 experts and consolidated them to a list of 11 barrier categories. Second, the panel was asked to rank them regarding their relevance. Third, to enhance the panel consensus, the ranking was revealed to the experts, who were then asked to re-rank the barriers. The results suggest that regulation is the most important barrier. Other relevant barriers are false or inaccurate measurements and application errors caused by the users. Additionally, insurers could lack the required technological competence to use the wearable data appropriately. A wider use of wearables and health apps could be achieved through regulatory modifications, especially regarding privacy issues.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “Even after assuring stricter regulations, users’ privacy concerns could partly remain, if the data exchange between wearables manufacturers, health app providers, and health insurers does not become more transparent.”

For more information on this research see: Adopting wearables to customize health insurance contributions: a ranking-type Delphi. BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making, 2022;22(1):112. BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making can be contacted at: Bmc, Campus, 4 Crinan St, London N1 9XW, England. (BioMed Central - http://www.biomedcentral.com/; BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making - http://www.biomedcentral.com/bmcmedinformdecismak/)

The news correspondents report that additional information may be obtained from Daniel Neumann, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany. Additional authors for this research include Victor Tiberius and Florin Biendarra.

The publisher’s contact information for the journal BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making is: Bmc, Campus, 4 Crinan St, London N1 9XW, England.

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