Fitbit wearable devices and services will soon be included in tech company Fujitsu FIP Corporation’s wellness program for Japanese companies.
First step: the IT group plans to provide 10,000 insured members of Mitsubishi Motors health insurance society, a cloud service that allows employees to get goods and gift cards based on data collected by their Fitbit devices and that encourages them to adopt a healthier lifestyle.
The more employees takes care of themselves, the more they gets health points
The device developed by the Fujitsu subsidiary converts volume data taken wearing the Fitbit device (physical exercises, calories burned, heart rate, etc.), as well as each user’s health and medical check-up information held by the Mitsubishi Motors health insurance society general information system into « health points ».
All data is stored on the cloud
All data is centralized on Fujitsu FIP’s cloud-type point system, which has a generic interface enabling seamless connections with other systems. Since each type of data is automatically captured, it is possible for the insured person to accumulate health points without needing to enter data on their own.
The service is expected to be launched in October 2017.
Health: Japan focuses on prevention
In recent years, suppression of the increase in medical and nursing care expenses due to the aging of the population is one of the main concerns in Japan..
The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare announced in May 2016 the establishment of guidelines for initiatives to encourage prevention and health promotion. These guidelines promote the creation of an environment in which health insurance providers can offer incentives to insurance holders, leading to improved health, and in this way, even those who are indifferent to their health can find it easy to constantly better their health.
The effectiveness of health point systems
As a result, more and more health insurance associations and municipalities have begun to work on « health point systems » which give points to those who exercised or had checkups, and exchanges the points for incentives such as goods and gift cards.
However, in organizations that actually introduce health point systems, there is a problem that participation in the system is biased towards the level of interest in health and does not spread to indifferent people.
Mitsubishi Motors wanted to create a more accessible and easy to use system
This is why the health insurance society of the Japanese automotive manufacturer Mitsubishi Motors wanted to set up a health point system that appeals for more insured people to participate. He has now decided to adopt a service to manage health points that combines Fujitsu FIP’s cloud-type point system, Fitbit’s wearable devices and data, as well as the general information system provided by Fujitsu FIP to facilitate access to its service.
10,000 Mitsubishi Motors employees ready to test the Fujitsu system
In April, Mitsubishi Motors health insurance society began accepting wearable device applications from among its insurance holders who wished to use the service. Thanks to to the function and design of sophisticated Fitbit devices and the ease of use of the mechanism that accumulates points automatically, there have been applications for participation from approximately 10,000 employees, more than two thirds of all insured persons.
The data provided by Fitbit Japan will help Fujitsu FIP better support the health and management of the organization by providing each individual with a structure that easily promotes health.
