By MILT FREUDENHEIM
New York Times
In step toward personalized online medical information, Aetna plans to announce Wednesday a new service that draws upon a patient’s own medical history to help answer questions about symptoms and treatments.
The Aetna offering, called SmartSource, has been tested by the company’s 35,000 employees. It will be offered to employers that provide worker health benefits through Aetna, in a gradual introduction across the country that will begin in August.
The company, which has 16.8 million enrollees, plans to provide the service free to its customers, saying it wants to help people manage their own health care. Aetna hopes the service can help it recruit and retain employer-customers worried about the costs of care.