Parks Associates: Consumer Comfort With Sharing Health Data in Exchange for Insurance Discounts Varies From 26-42% Depending on Connected Fitness Device Owned

DALLAS, TX--(Marketwired - Aug 12, 2015) - Digital health research from Parks Associates shows consumer willingness to share their personal data in exchange for a health insurance discount varies by device used, ranging from 42% of digital pedometer owners to only 26% of those with a sleep-quality monitor. Among smart watch owners, 35% are willing to share data from their device for a health insurance discount.

Parks Associates will examine new business models in the connected healthcare industry, including the unique challenges of creating incentives for consumer engagement, at the firm's second-annual Connected Health Summit: Engaging Consumers, September 9-10, at the Omni San Diego Hotel.

"Monetary rewards are generally considered among the strongest incentives to generate consumer response, but the majority of connected health consumers are not ready to share their data in exchange for discounts on services or products at this time," said Jennifer Kent, Director, Research Quality & Product Development, Parks Associates. "More consumers are willing to share data to troubleshoot device problems, suggesting benefits that ensure owners get the full advantages of their products could be more enticing."

Connected Health Summit: Engaging Consumers will feature two sessions on Thursday, September 10, focusing on the implications consumers' willingness to explore new care models and share heath data has on the healthcare market. "Disrupting and Rebuilding: New Care Service Models for Consumers," 8:45 a.m., moderated by Kent, will feature the following speakers:

• Lena Cheng, MD, Vice President, Medical Affairs, Doctor on Demand
• Aneesh Kumar, Vice President, Enterprise Product Solutions, Cigna
• Patrick Leonard, CTO, iTriage
• Leigh Ann Ruggles, EVP, Business Development and Client Success, MDLIVE

"Access to consumer health data streams combined with open API strategies make partnerships that add business value and value to the end user more feasible," Kent said. "However, when evaluating partners, companies in the healthcare space must keep consumer privacy top of mind. Parks Associates research finds 35% of consumers in U.S. broadband households are very concerned that their personal health information will not remain confidential."

"Making Sense of Partnerships in the Connected Health Market," 3:15 p.m., moderated by Harry Wang, Director, Health & Mobile Product Research, Parks Associates, will feature the following speakers:

• Keith Epstein, Senior Strategic Advisor, AARP
• Maneesh Goyal, SVP, Corporate Development, Welltok
• Jim Roxburgh, RN, MPA, Director, Dignity Health Telemedicine Network
• Dennis Upah, Executive Vice President, Enterprise Markets, Remedy Health Media

The 2015 Connected Health Summit will feature keynotes from AT&T, Cerner, CVS Health, Kaiser Permanente, and Humana. Sponsors of the event are CEA, Tata Consultancy Services, Validic, Care Innovations, Higi, Humana, MDLIVE, Alarm.com, Lowe's, ROC-Connect, Teladoc, Z-Wave, ZigBee Alliance, iTriage, MivaTek, and the National Sleep Foundation.

Media and organizations supporting the event include BPI Network, Clinical Innovation + Technology, CoPE, Conference Guru, Disruptive Women in Health Care, EHR Intelligence, FierceHealthCare, FierceHealthIT, FierceMobileHealthcare, FiercePharma, GII, Healthcare Tech Talk, HealthIT Analytics, HealthIT Interoperability, iTelemedicine, Managed Care, mHealth Intelligence, Mind Commerce, PharmaVoice, SFBayEventsList.com, StartUp Health, Story of Digital Health, TeleMental Health Institute, The Journal of mHealth, and ZigBee Alliance.

Registration is open, and media are invited to secure a press pass. For more information about Connected Health Summit visit, www.connectedhealthsummit.com. Follow the conference on Twitter at @CONN_Health_Smt and #ConnectedHealth15. To schedule a meeting with an analyst or speaker, contact Holly Sprague at hsprague@gmail.com, 720.987.6614.

About Connected Health Summit
Connected Health Summit: Engaging Consumers analyzes the roles of connected health technologies and innovations in driving changes in consumer behaviors and business models. The event focuses on four areas of consumer health technologies in particular, which all require active consumer participation to be successful: remote health monitoring for accountable care, consumer-centric wellness and fitness solutions, independent living technologies and services, and innovative convenience care models.

The Connected Health Summit: Engaging Consumers will take place September 9-10 at the Omni Hotel in San Diego, CA. www.connectedhealthsummit.com. Follow the event on Twitter at @CONN_Health_Smt. Subscribe to Parks Associates' digital health newsletter at http://www.parksassociates.com/newsletters_subscribe.