By Marian Hurmuz and Kira Oberschmidt

RRD is part of the European project INFINITECH. This project is funded by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (No. 856632). Within INFINITECH, many partners work together to lower the barriers to BigData, Internet of Things, and artificial intelligence-driven innovation, promote regulatory compliance, and encourage additional investment.

RRD's role within this project is to investigate users' willingness to share data with health insurers and to collect information on the use of an eHealth application.

Sharing data with health insurance companies?

To achieve the first goal, RRD conducted a questionnaire survey. In this survey, RRD examined the extent to which adults are open to sharing medical or lifestyle data with their health insurer. From the Netherlands, Germany and 34 other countries, a total of 180 people (57.8% female) participated in this survey. The results were:

  • The majority of participants indicated that they would not share data with their health insurance company, regardless of what benefit might be derived.
  • Looking at the people who are open to sharing, the group is larger in terms of sharing lifestyle data (e.g., steps taken per day) than sharing medical data (e.g., self-measured blood pressure readings).
  • Participants were most likely to share data when they received a personal health risk analysis for doing so.
  • Participants were least likely to share data when given a free product in return.

Would you like to test eHealth?

Another study is currently being conducted at RRD to collect data regarding the use of an eHealth app. Within this study, participants are given access to the Healthentia app (see Figure 1 below). This app allows users to monitor their health. This is done by tracking their physical activity and completing questionnaires.

Participants can use the Healthentia app for an extended period of time (up to one year). The purpose of this study for RRD is to find out how the app is used over a long period of time, why the app is used, and by whom the app is used for an extended period of time. Currently, 61 adults have signed up for this study.

RRD is permanently looking for new participants 18 years of age or older for this study. Would you like to help us within this study? If so, please visit for more information: https://www.rrd.nl/infinitech/

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