This week, Fitbit, Inc. announced that it now supports HIPAA compliance, enabling Fitbit Wellness to more effectively integrate with HIPAA-covered entities, including corporate wellness partners, health plans and self-insured employers.The added HIPAA compliance is a big step for Fitbit Wellness, the company’s business-to-business offering that provides turnkey software and services to help organizations drive engaging, effective and motivating wellness programs. These benefits include:
– The HIPAA compliance program will enable Fitbit Wellness to better support HIPAA-covered entities that are looking to improve the health and wellness of their members and employees.
– Fitbit Wellness will be able to expand integration opportunities with health plans and self-insured employers by its ability to enter into Business Associate Agreements with HIPAA-covered entities.
Target to Offer Fitbit to Employees
As a result of the HIPAA compliance, retail giant Target Corp. will offer activity trackers from Fitbit Inc. to its 335,000 U.S. employees as it looks for ways to improve its workers’ fitness and reduce health-care costs. Target employees will be able to receive Fitbit’s $59.99 Zip tracker or they can purchase a more expensive wristband with Target subsidizing the cost. Employers who opt-in to Fitbit’s program will be grouped into teams for a month-long fitness competition to have the highest averages of daily step counts. The winning team will get to choose a charity that will receive $1 million.
Fitbit also plans to work with Target to design further programs around the device.