The Next Big Step: Highlighting the Most Relevant Data Points for Patient Care

How do you see developments in health technology enhancing the way patients and physicians interact? We know from our work with physicians that they appreciate the accurate data our heart health devices provide. Most people don’t take their blood pressure often enough. And many people with hypertension are completely unaware of their condition, putting them at higher risk of health problems. When doctors take blood pressure readings in their offices, they can be artificially elevated due to stress (“white coat syndrome”) and only provide a snapshot in time of that patient’s condition. By regularly monitoring, storing, tracking, and sharing data via at-home devices and apps, patients can provide their doctors with much more thorough information to inform their care. At the same time, advances in technology are making it possible to capture even more points of measurement: exercise, quality of sleep, electrocardiogram (ECG), and more. And devices are becoming increasingly accurate. As we gather and deliver volumes of accurate health data, the challenge is going to be how to triage that data so that physicians aren’t overwhelmed. As I see it, the next big step in healthcare technology is going to be how to sort and highlight the most relevant data points for patient care. That’s evident now in the growing conversation on artificial intelligence in health technology.