As part of a campaign designed to drive adoption of its forthcoming HealthKit biomedical tracking platform, Apple has reportedly held broad-stroke discussions with major U.S. insurers UnitedHealth and Humana about potential partnerships.
Executives from both insurance companies confirmed the talks, according to Bloomberg, though they were mum on the content of the meetings. Apple was characteristically silent when asked for comment.
The publication cited a program instituted last year by British energy firm BP, in which the company offered employees the ability to earn health insurance discounts by making healthier life choices, as an example of the possibilities of such a partnership. Employees validate their progress by wearing a FitBit fitness tracker.
UnitedHealth and Humana -- along with competitors Cigna and Highmark -- are said to have added similar options for policyholders. It is possible that the talks with Apple would fit under this rubric, as HealthKit is designed in part to allow medical professionals easier access to the data generated by the growing plethora of wearable devices available to consumers.
Apple is already known to be working with the Mayo Clinic, and the company is rumored to have been in contact with Mount Sinai, the Cleveland Clinic, and Johns Hopkins. It is also thought to have approached EMR providers Allscripts and Epic Systems to integrate HealthKit data directly into patients' medical records.