Can Medtech Learn to Coexist with the Big Bad Apple?

The invasion of consumer tech giants like Apple in healthcare was one of the hottest conversation topics at MD&M Minneapolis 2019 and opinions were widely split over what this encroachment ultimately means for traditional medical device companies and the healthcare industry in general. Let's rewind for a moment to 2018 when Apple dropped a bombshell on the industry with news of FDA clearance to include an electrocardiogram (ECG) sensor in its Apple Watch. Industry critics were quick to point out that the ECG clearance was only marginally different from what AliveCor had already been doing for years. In 2017 FDA cleared AliveCor's KardiaBand ECG accessory. The Mountain View, CA-based company’s technology is compatible with the Apple watch. The KardiaBand is a clinical grade wearable ECG that replaces the Apple Watch band. The company said the accessory provides accurate and instant analysis for detecting AFib and normal sinus rhythm in an ECG. The company has also developed Kardiamobile, which is compatible with Android devices. "Anybody here who thinks Apple, Google, Amazon, Microsoft are not going to be in healthcare," Dave Albert, MD, founder and CMO at Alivecor, said during a fireside chat at MD&M Minneapolis with Omron Healthcare CEO Ranndy Kellogg and MD+DI Editor-in-Chief Daphne Allen. "... These companies are definitely going to be in healthcare and if you are a medical device company...
Source: MDDI - Category: Medical Devices Authors: Tags: MD & M Minneapolis Digital Health Source Type: news