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Fitbit Wants To Help Corporations Track Employee Health

Posted by samzenpus on from the hand-in-your-fitness-report dept.

jfruh writes: Fitbit is pitching its iconic fitness trackers to businesses as a tool to save money on health care costs. Many companies have wellness programs to encourage workers to exercise more, and Fitbit will help employers quantify (and monitor) employee progress. “We think virtually every company will incorporate fitness trackers into their corporate wellness programs,” Fitbit CFO Bill Zerella said

3 of 206 comments (clear)

  1. Great idea! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Maybe they can come monitor my food when I'm at home or out about town, too?

    And maybe they can monitor when I wake and sleep.

    And maybe monitor what kind of air I breath in my part of town.

    And maybe they can just get a direct pipe into all my medical records? I mean, since apparently we give no fucks anymore, right?

    I have a better idea: You hire me to do a fucking job and I'll do the fucking job and we'll leave our involvement with each other right fucking there.

    1. Re:Great idea! by OhPlz · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I see both sides on this one and I'm not sure which is the better argument. It doesn't seem right to force workers to have their privacy invaded at such intimate levels in order to qualify for a benefit. I do also see the argument that unhealthy sloths can jack the cost of insurance up for everyone at the company. IMO, the real answer isn't wellness programs, it's get health insurance out of the hands of employers. I want to buy my own policy that I can keep wherever I work. Technically that's possible today but going from a group to an individual means the premium is unapproachable. Yet if everyone or even a significant number of people did this, it'd be like auto insurance where they'd be a healthy marketplace for it and premiums would be approachable. Instead of trying for single payer, Obamacare could have been a slam dunk if it could pull this off. Instead, we got the worst possible outcome. The states don't want the marketplace approach nor should they, and the employers remain the dominant path to getting coverage. We need a free market, not a state market, not employer provided.

  2. Re:Is it 1984 yet? by cayenne8 · · Score: 4, Insightful
    Yep...'cause if you have to wear these things, they'll likely be getting GPS information on you after you leave work.

    Oops, PHil...appears you've been regularly stopping off at bar on the way home, that's gonna be a bit of a risk to us for your health ins....

    --
    Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........