Understanding and tracking personal health data is the key first step to improving wellness.
Today, two companies focused on making this data accessible and convenient have closed a transaction to come together.
Higi, the fast-growing Chicago-based startup that builds interactive health stations, has combined with StayHealthy, a producer of affordable, medical-grade health monitoring devices, to form the largest connected retail health kiosk network in the United States. The new company will operate as Higi.
The companies have joined forces in order to use their respective hardware, expertise, and shared mission of making people healthier to roll out an interactive health engagement platform. This platform will feature a nationwide self-service kiosk network that is scheduled to hit 10,000 by 2015.
"Bringing the two companies together makes great strategic sense and expands our influence in the market," said John Collins, CEO of Stayhealthy, in a release. "By combining our different technologies and resources, we can offer a best in class, next generation product."
On top of offering basic health screening, that platform will also integrate with a variety of fitness tracking devices, like Fitbit. The seamless device integration allows users to track their friends as well and reinforces Higi's goal of making wellness monitoring interactive, fun, and rewarding.
"Our ultimate goal is to promote and develop a collaborative approach to healthcare between physicians, providers, payers, employers and individuals, said Jeff Bennett, CEO of Higi. "By leveraging Stayhealthy's innovative algorithms, advanced testing methods, and screening technologies, we get one step closer to achieving this goal through access to high-tech data."
Under the new company, Bennett will serve as CEO and Collins will become the Vice Chairman and Director of Innovation. Higi will remain in Chicago.
To locate a station near you and give this a kiosk a spin, check out: https://higi.com/locator.
