Leading FDA-cleared healthcare devices, Fitbit and Google Cloud have recently announced the launch of ‘Device Connect for Fitbit’ for healthcare providers to access more data, better analytics and insights to help people live healthier lives.
By implementing Device Connect for Fitbit, the companies aim to remove some major drawbacks that have been blocking healthcare organisations from accessing Fitbit data for patient monitoring research and population health projects.
What does this mean for healthcare companies and Fitbit users? Read on to know more.
What is Device Connect for Fitbit?
Device Connect for Fitbit is a feature that allows users to use their Fitbit tracker and app with other third-party health applications. The data collected from consenting users is made available through Fitbit Web API to third-party apps. Users have control over whether or not they want to share the data and what data they want to share. Google ensures secure data storage and protection.
Using the health data of users tracked by Fitbit devices, healthcare companies can unlock actionable insights. These insights can help support the management of chronic conditions, drive population health impact, and advance clinical research to help transform lives.
To make Fitbit data accessible and interoperable, Device Connect for Fitbit includes several pre-built components.
- Patient enrollment and consent app: It allows companies to deliver permissions, transparency, and a frictionless experience to their users.
- Open-source data connector: Used for advanced analytics, it provides automated data standardisation and connection with Google Cloud BigQuery.
- AI and machine learning tools: It offers Google’s advanced tools like AutoML Tables from BigQuery and Vertex AI to develop advanced models.
- Interactive visualisation dashboard: It can be adapted for different clinical settings and use cases to deliver faster time to insights.
How will it help researchers and healthcare companies?
9 in 10 physicians (92%) believe technology can have a positive impact on improving patient experiences, and 96% agree that easier access to critical information may help save someone’s life.- Harris poll
Outside of clinical care settings, the new technology will allow healthcare organisations to obtain a more holistic view of their patients. The insights will improve the understanding of patient behaviours and patterns, helping healthcare and life science businesses provide better support to care teams, researchers, and patients at home.
Device Connect for Fitbit addresses data interoperability for enterprises to “make the unseen visible,” giving users consent management and control over their data.
How will it help people live healthier lives?
Both Fitbit and Google Cloud offer innovative and quality healthcare solutions to their customers. With this new device, they aim to build an ecosystem that’s beneficial for both fitness enthusiasts and chronic patients. These are key use cases of Device Connect with Fitbit:
- Pre and post-operative care: Better assist patients before and after surgery by keeping track of behavioural variables such as activity level, sleep, weight, and stress. It will also offer visibility and insights to care teams into what’s happening with patients outside the hospital.
- Chronic condition management: For people with diabetes, maintaining glucose levels within an acceptable range is a consistent problem. Heart disease and excessive blood pressure also necessitate constant care. Device Connect for Fitbit can help healthcare providers understand patient lifestyle factors and enable them to provide more personalised treatment and tools.
- Population health: Better management of community health indices with an emphasis on preventative care can help slow the progression of chronic diseases, enhance the quality of life and lower treatment costs. Fitbit users can also share their data with organisations that provide lifestyle modification programmes for the prevention and management of chronic or acute health issues.
- Clinical research: Rich patient data can enrich clinical trials with new insights into patient behaviour patterns. It can not only help improve research outcomes, but also improve patient retention and compliance with the study protocol.
How can users access Device Connect for Fitbit?
Currently, Google and Fitbit have not specified how the feature will be rolled out to Fitbit users. However, one thing both companies assure is that users will have control over their data, and only data from consenting users will be shared. They have also specified that it will support all devices, including Android, iOS and Windows.
Fitbit: Potential and Competition
After being acquired by Google, Fitbit and Google are working on innovative ways to lead the healthcare space. Device Connect for Fitbit is one of its kind features launched by them. Their competitors, Apple, Samsung, Garmin, etc., are yet to bring in this kind of interoperability.
Hague’s Haga Teaching Hospital, Netherlands, one of the early customers of Device Connect for Fitbit, is using the device solution for early detection and prevention of vascular disease. Their lead cardiologist, Dr. Ivo van der Bilt says,
“Collaborating with Google Cloud allows us to do our research [on early identification and prevention of vascular disease], with the help of data analytics and AI, on a much greater scale. Being able to leverage the new solution makes it easier than ever to gain the insights we need.”
Parting Words
Fitbit may seem like a simple wearable device, but there is much more to it than what meets the eye. It can become an invaluable tool for doctors and healthcare professionals to monitor heart rate, blood pressure and sugar levels and now, analyse lifestyle patterns.
Fitbit has the potential, and its new role within Google will propel it in new directions. While Device Connect for Fitbit is an excellent proposition, concerns regarding the privacy of data and data usage for advertising can be its major drawbacks. Let’s wait and watch how this new feature enhances the healthcare space.
