Health-Related 'Social Networking Tool' Debuts at Gwinnett Grocery Store

Do you know what your Higi score is? If you have recently visited the Hamilton Mill Publix, you may have noticed the old blood pressure machine has been replaced with a higi station.

While it may look similar to a standard blood pressure station, the higi station is far more complex. The machine calculates your blood pressure, weight, body mass index and pulse, but that is just the beginning. Higi can also factor in lifestyle choices and community interactions to produce a higi score which ranges from 1 to 999.

“Physical body stats are important, but only serve as a point-of-entry for living healthy, when we know that social interaction and community involvement also play a part in wellness,” said Dr. Khan Siddiqui, Higi CEO in a press release. “The question for higi became ‘How can we aggregate all the data, make it simple and fun to collect your data and share it with others?’”

The higi score, which the company compares to an individual's FICO credit rating, gives an overall picture of the user's health. The higi stations, used in conjunction with the higi app, are designed to create a "wellness challenge" among users.

“The engagement and resulting higi Score creates a status symbol that measures social influence and savvy by way of overall wellness, which could be a game changer for improving public health,” according to company founder Michael Ferro.

In an interview with Time Magazine, Ferro explained the concept of collecting and sharing health data as a way of seeing improvements and changing habits.

"The [user's] ranking in the world and in the community is changing by the second. You are the stock on the market, and it can go up and down depending on what’s going on in your community. We want to make it so it is not work, but a game,” he said.

The current average score of a higi user is about 750. Users with higi accounts can see how their score stacks up against other users of the same age and gender.

Currently, the Hamilton Mill Publix is the only Dacula-area Publix with a higi station, though employees at the Dacula and Mulberry Village Publix stores indicated they expect higi stations to be installed at those stores in the near future. The higi.com website does not list any other nearby stations. 

Have you tried higi yet? Have you seen a higi station elsewhere? Do you feel comfortable tracking and sharing your health information? Let us know in the comments.