The iBeat Is a ‘Smart’ Watch, But It Can’t ‘Save Your Life’

The Emergency Medical Services and Fire industry is complex. Reporters covering Health and Health IT— including iBeat, the most recent darling — must carefully vet companies’ “Big Claims.” I do not often comment on articles written about other companies — particularly because, having been a journalist for the first half of my career, I empathize with the challenge of writing quickly about hot topics, especially when they are complex, technical, and the interview subject is a something of a celebrity. But journalists are in hindsight eulogizing the many signs that were missed with respect to Theranos, so this article is intended to highlight claims being made by and about iBeat that fail to stand to technical scrutiny in light of the way Fire and Emergency Medical Services operate in the U.S. It must be stated upfront that I hold no stake in iBeat, its technologies, or any competitive technology or company. Quite to the contrary: If iBeat’s claims were accurate, its technology would be wonderfully informative for the Fire and EMS agencies that I serve, and their patients nationwide. Alas… Healthcare is different from other startup disciplines (or it should be). The pressure to be correct should be highest if one is to buy a certain product, and then rely on information provided by it, to “save your life in an emergency.” Ryan Howard ( Ryan Howard ), CEO of iBeat, was CEO of Practi...
Source: JEMS Administration and Leadership - Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Tags: Columns Administration and Leadership Source Type: news