Personal fitness devices from companies like FitBit and Withings have clearly made inroads with highly motivated fitness devotees. Can similar devices have the same impact on those suffering from health issues?
Philips, a longtime player in hospital and professional medical devices, is entering the consumer personal health market with a trio of devices for tracking exercise, weight, blood pressure and body temperature. These Bluetooth enabled devices are all interconnected with a new HealthSuite Health app (iOS and Android). The app features a health dashboard that combines gathering data, personal goal setting, support and motivation. “The key,” says, says Mark Aloia, Global Lead, Behavior Change, at Philips, “is promoting behavioral change.”
Philips claims it is not targeting fitness buffs. Instead the company has a laser-like focus on customers at risk of developing chronic, lifestyle-related conditions, such as heart disease, hypertension and diabetes. Statistics indicate that while these types of diseases affect only 5% of the population, they account for about 80% of dollars spent on healthcare. Initially the products will be available on the Philips website and at Amazon, but the hope is that with clinical trials and messaging to doctors and hospitals, the devices will be used as part of a more holistic health plan.
“We haven’t just spotted a gap in the market and fancied it,” says Liat Ben-Zur, Senior Vice President and Digital Technology Leader, Philips Connected Digital Platforms, “Philips is already the global leader in patient monitoring; we make one out of every two patient monitors in the world. So who better than Philips to take that technology and apply it to helping people to better manage their health?”
Aloia, the behavioral psychologist behind the app, is a champion of combining human psychology with technology. Previously, he worked Philips to help sleep apnea sufferers increase their adherence to using CPAP machines regularly. Many of the same concepts used in the sleep apnea app are being applied to the HealthSuite. “It’s hard to make technological progress without recognizing the ambivalence people have in believing that behavior changes equate with results”, he says. “The app focuses on taking small steps in things like weight loss and exercise. It tells you it’s ok to have setbacks. It personalizes the experience with content cards that provide information for a particular condition”.
The new devices include:
The Philips Body analysis scale which measures weight, estimates body fat through Bio-Impedance Analysis and calculates BMI supporting the entire family with up to eight user profiles. ($99.99)
The Philips health watch looks like a larger version of an Apple Watch but is totally focused on health measurements. The device includes a proprietary optical heart rate sensor and accelerometer and can measure a number of biometrics (including activity, calories burned, heart rate and sleep patterns). ($250)
The Philips upper arm blood pressure monitor is a tubeless, rechargeable device that allows you to measure your systolic and diastolic blood pressure as well as your heart rate. It has an easy-to-read display with a large back lit screen. ($99.99)
There’s nothing terribly new in Philips implementation. As a matter of fact, compared to some of the spiffy designs in the fitness tracker world, Philip’s health watch is a bit of an over-sized plain Jane. In this early version, sharing the data you collect with your doctor or caregiver means literally showing them the app.
What is new is the specific targeting of home healthcare using a single repository for data and a single app. Many questions remain about the efficacy of patient monitoring systems and ultimately doctor’s prescriptions and insurance company reimbursements which need to get sorted out before these devices become commonplace.
Robin Raskin is founder of Living in Digital Times (LIDT), a team of technophiles who bring together top experts and the latest innovations that intersect lifestyle and technology. LIDT produces conferences and expos at CES and throughout the year focusing on how technology enhances every aspect of our lives through the eyes of today’s digital consumer.