JMIR Publications today released an expert News and Perspectives analysis on the forays of consumer mobile platforms into the clinical healthcare space. Authored by MedTech expert Blythe Karow, MBA, “Meet the New Health Care Gatekeeper: Your Wearable” explores the implications of wearable technology companies owning the first conversation about a patient’s health, and the potential implications for patient trust, policy and regulation.
Owner of the first conversation
For decades, primary care physicians have served as the entry point to medical care, arranging referrals, tests and treatments, Karow writes. Now, wearable consumer platforms collect continuous physiological data—such as sleep patterns, heart rate variability, and blood pressure trends—allowing them to detect health changes before the user does. By incorporating artificial intelligence to interpret this data, these platforms essentially own the first conversation about a patient’s health, positioning themselves to influence the specialists users see, the treatments they consider and the care plans they enroll in.
The shift towards clinical routing
Major investments and strategic shifts signal that wearables are no longer just consumer technology toys. Karow notes that fitness bracelet company WHOOP recently closed a $575 million funding round with investments from Abbott and the Mayo Clinic, and its fledgling subsidiary has been selected into a Medicare outcomes-based model of chronic care. Similar moves are happening across the industry, with companies like Oura integrating into Medicare’s electronic health record infrastructure and others like Apple, Samsung, and Verily building clinical, regulatory, and reimbursement infrastructure. Mobile devices are now vying to become the routing layer for clinical care, helping relieve pressure on overworked doctors and helping patients with proactive monitoring.
Navigating new regulatory risks
While there are clear benefits to continuous monitoring, Karow cautions that the rapid integration of these platforms raises significant regulatory and ethical concerns. Consumer technology companies operate with business models traditionally based on user attention, subscription revenue and monetization of user data. Unlike US doctors, who are legally barred from profiting financially when they refer patients to specific specialists, mobile platforms that bring physiological monitoring, AI interpretation, clinical routing and reimbursement under one roof have yet to face the same structural antitrust scrutiny. Policy and regulatory frameworks in the United States, Karow writes, are not yet ready to handle the risks arising from the integration of mobile consumer platforms into healthcare—and so far, integration has not waited for policy to cover it.
