Deal integrates AI and machine learning-based weight management solution from leading behavioral economist Dan Ariely into Vitality’s robust health and wellness platform
Vitality Group, a global health tech company, announced a partnership with Shapa, a Silicon Valley firm focused on chronic disease management and prevention. Chronic conditions such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease account for nearly 75 percent of the nation’s annual $2 trillion health costs and are largely preventable with effective health management.
Both organizations share a common purpose of making people healthier, and through this partnership Vitality will make available to its members Shapa’s recently launched health management solution that includes a smart scale without numbers and member interventions.
“For more than 20 years, Vitality has taken a shared-value insurance approach to health improvement by creating interventions that change people’s behaviors,” said Adrian Gore, CEO of Discovery, Vitality’s parent company. “At the same time, the powerful insights of behavioral science have been brought to life by the work of leading academic, entrepreneur and author Dan Ariely. This partnership enables both parties to benefit from incorporating a disruptive model in personal health engagement into the overall Vitality health and wellness program.”
Shapa’s platform will be integrated into Vitality’s solution, a US program that includes strategic partners across the broader health ecosystem to connect employees to meaningful resources that improve their health.
“Shapa brings our behavioral science insights that help people successfully manage their health and lose weight without demotivation to the Vitality platform,” said Dan Ariely, social scientist, Duke University professor and Shapa co-founder. “We are thrilled to collaborate with Vitality to combine our knowledge and understanding of human behavior with Vitality’s clinical and incentive knowledge to bring a new set of solutions centered on consumer behavior change to the US healthcare market.”
Through artificial intelligence and machine learning, over time Shapa improves the missions it recommends for each individual, providing an individually tailored approach to health.
“Vitality is constantly seeking ways to connect the right science, the right incentives, and the right technology in a dynamic way that genuinely creates behavior change for our clients and plays a more integrated role in our member’s day to day health,” said Tal Gilbert, CEO, Vitality Group USA. “We are in their pockets (smart phones), on their wrists (Apple Watch), even meeting them at the grocery checkout (healthy food). Shapa’s device is a logical extension to that connectivity as are the various disease prevention programs that they run.”
Shapa co-founder and CEO Nati Lavi said, “Together, Vitality and Shapa are fundamentally changing and improving population health. We’re thrilled that Vitality recognizes Shapa’s vision and the capabilities of our platform to provide superior added value to their offering.”
As part of the Vitality program, employees receive personalized and dynamic health recommendations and resources specific to their needs in a way that meets them where they are while also providing employers the opportunity to amplify their own benefits and program offerings. These offerings are supported by Vitality’s proven expertise in behavioral science and incentive strategies to help employees overcome common decision errors. Available through Vitality’s dynamic digital platforms, Vitality connects members to the right resources at the right time for them.
The Shapa device and membership will be available for Vitality members on the Vitality mall.