After Checking Blood Pressure, Kiosks Give Sales Leads To Insurers

[Newsjock]

Source: NPR

Those machines in drugstores and supermarkets that let people check their blood pressure also may be selling people's contact information to insurance companies trolling for new customers.

... The machines are owned by a company based near Atlanta called SoloHealth. It started installing the kiosks in Wal-Mart stores and other retail stores in 2008 to give people a way to keep better track of their health. Today there are more than 3,500 SoloHealth stations across the U.S., and the company plans to install another 1,500 this year.

SoloHealth first made money by selling ads for pharmacy items displayed near the kiosks. But it has happened on a new business model. The data it collects are suddenly very valuable to health insurance companies.

... In this case, it means selling information about people who have used SoloHealth kiosks. For now, SoloHealth is selling names, email addresses and phone numbers to insurers who want to market health plans directly to consumers.

Read more: http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2014/01/15/261371525/kiosks-give-sales-leads-to-insurers-after-checking-blood-pressure

[djean111]

1. I have never had to give any information to use a blood pressure machine at a

grocery store. I would not use them if I was asked to give any info.

[El_Johns]

3. me neither

[mike_c]

2. I think it's pretty much a given that when we enter contact information...

...into any sort of "free service" device or such, it's a two way relationship, and harvesting the contact info is the quid pro quo we can usually expect. I don't ever enter such information if I'm not comfortable with it being sold or otherwise shared.

[DesertFlower]

4. i've never been asked for information.

[vanlassie]

5. I heard that report tonight. I was thinking about posting.

That was one of a recent "news" feature I have been hearing in NPR. The piece was produced "in a partnership between NPR and Kaiser Health Foundation."

Part if the story was that the data is being sold exclusively to Blue Cross. A competitor of Kaiser's, I believe? WtF??

[Newsjock]

6. Not related

"KHN is an editorially-independent program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a non-profit private operating foundation, based in Menlo Park, Calif., dedicated to producing and communicating the best possible analysis and information on health issues. ... Neither KHN nor the Kaiser Family Foundation is affiliated with the health insurance company Kaiser Permanente."
http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/About.aspx

"The Kaiser Family Foundation is not associated with Kaiser Permanente or Kaiser Industries."
http://kff.org/about-us/

[vanlassie]

8. WOW! Thanks! That is good to know.

[dionysus]

7. wow, i never met a pharmacy blood pressure machine that asked me for any information.

I bet it's a program people sign up for, and the data selling stuff is in the Terms and Conditions thing everyone skips over.

[Aristus]

9. Wow. I'm glad I advise my patients against using them.

I didn't know about the data-collection thing. I just tell my patients that there's no way of determining how often those machines are maintained and calibrated.

For my patients who need regular monitoring outside of clinic, I tell them they can get their blood pressure taken accurately and for free at their local fire station.