Welltok, the Denver-based creator of an online and mobile "social health management" platform, has introduced a partnership program to link technology with disease management and wellness programs.

The idea is to make it easier for population health managers from payers, health systems and accountable care organizations to provide services and actionable steps for program members.

"We're able to create what we internally call an itinerary," said Maneesh Goyal, who, as senior VP of corporate development for Welltok, oversees the partner program. This itinerary includes specific steps people are supposed to take for managing their own health or meeting fitness goals.

For example, Goyal said, Propeller Health, the Madison, Wis.-based inhaler maker formerly known as Asthmapolis, is creating a program for management of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Case managers will be able to offer medication sensors to COPD patients as an actionable part of a health itinerary.

"These things are very personalized for each consumer," Goyal said. Individuals can opt in to receive various devices, which then automatically get shipped to them and "interweaved into their base itinerary," according to Goyal.

Welltok acquired healthcare incentive design and management firm IncentOne in October, opening the door for population health managers to offer personalized rewards for healthy behaviors.

The new program, called CaféWell Connect, has 14 launch partners in six areas: 

• Condition management and wellness, initially addressing COPD via Propeller Health, prenatal care via Wildflower Health and depression, with the help of Brain Resource;
• Health tracking devices from Fitbit, FitLinxx and Jawbone;
• Biometric and health risk assessment services, including Provant, Hooper Holmes and Tonic Health;
• Mobile applications, specifically products from Under Armour's MapMyFitness as well as Azumio;
• Organized communities, starting with the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America; and
• Health-related content and programs from Greatist and Health Nuts Media.

Goyal said the link with communities such as the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation is a differentiator for the company. "They don't have a technology platform or a way to get in front of health plans," he said. "It takes them a long time to break into the health plan world," due to the long sales cycle and just the logistics involved, Goyal added.

Welltok has contracts with insurers and provider groups that together cover more than 20 million lives, he said.

For now, Welltok is integrating with these partners through the partners' application provider interfaces and other integration engines. Goyal said Welltok eventually will open up its own API, but the company is not ready to do that just yet.