Cigna is expanding its role in mobile health through a new partnership with Samsung.
Cigna and Seoul-based Samsung, the world’s largest mobile device manufacturer, have entered into a multi-year agreement to “co-develop health and wellness-related features built into Samsung’s S Health on Samsung’s major smart mobile devices,” the companies said in a media release. The partnership will initially be focused on “delivering health-related tips and articles” through Samsung’s smartphone and tablet health app.
As of this month, Cigna’s health content is available through the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 in the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and Spain. Over the next year, officials said, more functions and features will be available through Samsung devices worldwide.
“By teaming up with the global leader in smart mobile devices, we are putting the power to embrace better health literally into the hands of millions of people around the world,” Cigna Chief Marketing Officer Benjamin Karsch said in a media release.
Won-Pyo Hong, president of the media solution center at Samsung, said the two companies are “pioneering a new health service model of innovation.”
Cigna, a Connecticut-based insurer that’s diversifying and repositioning itself as a global health services company, has been entering the mobile health market largely with a focus on member wellness. The company recently launched a marketplace of curated health apps and earlier this year unveiled two apps of its own for members to find providers, update account information or compare drug prices.
Cigna also launched a diabetes prevention and management pilot earlier this year for 1,600 at-risk members from four large U.S. employer clients, combining lifestyle and health coaching with the BodyMedia armband monitoring system to track the results round-the-clock through measurements of exercise patterns and metabolism. And in April, the company forged a telehealth relationship with MDLive.
Officials said the company is looking to grow its business in Asia, with expatriate and multinational corporate insurance offerings in Singapore, Hong Kong and Shanghai, China’s largest city.
Meanwhile, Samsung is trying to become one of the world’s largest medical equipment companies by the end of the decade, selling to providers and consumers, with mobile products a growing part of the healthcare market.
In September, Samsung unveiled its first venture in the “wearables” space with the Galaxy Gear, a smartwatch designed to be largely a smartphone companion that will eventually be BlueTooth voice-enabled.
Earlier this year, the company announced a deal with Independa, a California-based developer of mHealth services for seniors and others in need of home-based services, to embed a social engagement application aimed at the elderly into Samsung Mobile Galaxy Tab 2.
