Aetna Acquires mHealth StartUp, iTriage: mHealth is Here to Stay

Health insurance giant Aetna announced during their investor’s conference this past Thursday that it has acquired mhealth startup Healthagen, the developer of mobile app iTriage for an undisclosed price. Aetna’s Chairmen, CEO, and President Mark Bertolini told investors “About a month and a half ago we bought at little company called iTriage…the fastest growing consumer application in healthcare today.” iTriage lets users check symptoms, find doctors, make appointments, and do medical shopping. Itwill be augmented with new features and become part of Aetna’s accountable care organization. Bertolini said ”We’re going to begin to change the health care industry by giving people tools they can put in the palm of their hand.”

Aetna recognizes the value added through Accountable Care Organizations as a sustainable long term model for change. iTriage will serve as a key component of Aetna’s ACO consumer engagement strategy leveraging its current assets, including Medicity, ActiveHealth, iNexx, and more. The following graph below presented in the investor’s conference explain Aetna’s approach:

The marks one of the first high profile acquisition for a mobile health start up proving the real benefits of mHealth for consumers. iTriage is a market leader with over 3 million downloads across Apple iTunes and Android platforms. The mobile applications has been critically acclaimed by it’s users and has been utilized by healthcare providers such as Sutter Health,  physicians and even mothers have provided testimonials on iTriage’s benefits as shown below:

While I still feel mHealth is still in its infacy, this acquisition proves that the trend of mHealth will continue to play a vital role in the creating a more patient centered healthcare system integrated with large healthcare organizations.

For more information about iTriage, the video below provides a great overview and review of the mobile health application: