Qualcomm, UnitedHealthcare to develop apps to incorporate wearables, medical devices and Dx

Qualcomm Life ($QCOM) will help UnitedHealthcare ($UNH) develop connected health services for its employer wellness program. The healthcare insurance giant has enormous reach, contracting with more than one million healthcare providers and about 6,000 hospitals and care facilities in the U.S.

This partnership will focus on taking new UnitedHealthcare programs that incorporate the latest in wearables, medical devices and diagnostic tests and using Qualcomm Life's 2net Platform to connect and manage all that data. The collaboration was announced at the ongoing HIMSS conference in Las Vegas.

Qualcomm Life VP and Chief Medical Officer Dr. James Mault

"UnitedHealthcare's leadership in innovation and broad reach across the United States, combined with Qualcomm Life's medical grade connectivity solutions, enable us to deliver personalized, connected care to millions of health care consumers nationwide," said Qualcomm Life VP and CMO Dr. James Mault in a statement.

The first program slated for these partners is UnitedHealthcare Motion, a wellness program for mid-sized employers that provides employees and covered spouses with custom-designed wearable devices that track the number of steps each user takes during the day. The idea is to help these employers and individuals to reduce their health insurance costs and improve overall health.

The data is sent from the wearable devices to the UnitedHealthcare Motion app, which is powered by Qualcomm Life's 2net Mobile connectivity platform. Employees with these wearable devices can earn credits toward their health insurance costs of up to $1,460 a year based on their usage. Employers also can qualify for premium savings based on the combined results of their employee's participation.

"Qualcomm Life is the ideal collaborator to power our UnitedHealthcare Motion app," said UnitedHealthcare CMO Dr. Sam Ho. "Their experience in the wireless industry and leadership in connected health will help us deliver innovative health care programs and services that enable people to make a positive impact on their health and well-being."

- here is the announcement