Humana was the mystery buyer of Boston-based health engagement company Healthrageous, MobiHealthNews has learned. Healthrageous sold its assets to Humana and a number of Healthrageous employees who supported the platform will also be joining the insurance company. MobiHealthNews first reported last week that Healthrageous had shut down and had its assets acquired. The financial details of the deal remain undisclosed.
Healthrageous also had a handful of other customers and pilot deals that had been previously unannounced -- including three of the regional Blue Cross Blue Shields and a large IDN in Indiana.
Humana's acquisition of Healthrageous will likely mean considerable changes to Humana Vitality, a competitive offering to Healthrageous. Humana first launched Humana Vitality in mid-2011 as a program that used a points-based rewards system to encourage healthy behavior and wellness education among employee populations. HumanaVitality is a joint venture between Humana and the Vitality program parent company, South Africa-based Discovery Holdings.
When Humana first launched Vitality the platform offered members an initial health assessment to determine their “Vitality Age,” a “scientifically calculated” number that offered a representation of their risk-adjusted “true” age, and taught members how their current behaviors are impacting their health. Vitality users were then given “personal pathways, recommended goals to help improve their health based on their individual health needs.” They could choose from more than 30 activities, divided between four categories: Fitness, Healthy Living, Prevention, and Education. In addition, children could earn Vitality Points by receiving immunizations, flu shots and participating in team sports. Vitality was included as a part of Humana's commercial members but not its Medicare members.
As of May 2013, Humana Vitality integrated with a number of activity and biometric tracking devices including all Fitbit devices, some Garmin heart rate monitors, Polar heart rate monitors, and Timex heart rate monitors, as well as apps like Nike+ and Humana's own Fit apps for iPhone, Android and BlackBerry. Humana also offers two white-labeled devices called HumanaGear Pedometers -- one requires a USB connection and the other is wireless-enabled.
While it may not be related to the Healthrageous buy, Humana's CEO was slated to serve as a keynote at Health 2.0 in Santa Clara last week but cancelled shortly before the event.
