Smartwatch adoption is driving consumer interest in connected health devices, reported Parks Associates Thursday, saying 54%, of U.S. internet households own at least one connected health device, and 23% own three or more. Patients have become used to using devices to collect, transmit and interpret health data, said analyst Kristen Hanich, noting predictive analytics and machine learning algorithms “turn real-time data into actionable and potentially life-saving insights and diagnostic support." Some 57% of consumers find sharing device health data appealing, and more than one in three seek care providers who offer the capability, Parks said.

Three prominent cardiologists and StopAfib.org, an atrial fibrillation patient advocacy organization, came to Apple’s defense Wednesday, urging the International Trade Commission in docket 337-TA-1266 not to ban imports of the Apple Watch, Series 4 through 6, for infringing two AliveCor electrocardiogram patents. ITC Administrative Law Judge Cameron Elliot, in a June 27 initial determination, found Apple guilty of Tariff Act Section 337 violations (see 2207140030). The “irregular pulse notification” alerts on the Apple Watch “can effectively identify people with atrial fibrillation who were not previously aware of this condition,” wrote Marco Perez, Stanford University associate professor of cardiovascular medicine and a board-certified cardiac electrophysiologist. As a clinician who manages patients with atrial fibrillation daily, Perez can attest that “many of these patients either did not have symptoms and were therefore unaware of a problem, or did have symptoms such as palpitations, but were previously dismissed or just could not be diagnosed by other means,” he said. Thanks to the cardiac alerts they received on the Apple Watch, said Perez, “many of these patients now have received treatment earlier than they would have otherwise, which has lowered their risk of stroke and has ameliorated their symptoms.” Hugh Calkins, cardiology professor at Johns Hopkins University, and Richard Milani, vice chairman of the Cardiology Department at Ochsner Health System in New Orleans, gave similar Apple Watch endorsements, as did StopAfib.org CEO Mellanie True Hills. Removing the Apple Watch and its cardiac alerts as an “option” could have “devastating effects on the atrial fibrillation patient community and their family members,” said Hills. But the Medical Device Manufacturers Association was alone among those commenting to urge the ITC to enforce its proposed import ban on the Apple Watch. In Apple’s “push to extend the reach of its consumer products” into the health and wellness space, it has “disregarded the patent rights of innovators,” said the group. The recommended import ban “is in the public interest given the need to protect the patent rights of medical device innovators from the threat of companies such as Apple who can afford to engage in ‘efficient infringement’ as a business strategy,” it said. Apple didn’t comment.

Retail giants Amazon and Walmart stepped up their healthcare marketing this week as they make broader pushes into the wellness business. In a Wednesday email, Amazon linked to a dedicated Amazon Pharmacy webpage calling itself “the pharmacy that really delivers” with “upfront pricing,” easy refills and no waiting in line at a pharmacy. Customers plug in their medication to find Amazon prices. The landing page showed the e-commerce company’s Prime member prices vs. regular prices for common medications including Setraline, generic for Zoloft ($13.10 vs. $31.80); Atorvastatin, generic for Lipitor ($10.10 vs. $78.90); Montelukast, generic for Singulair ($12.50 vs. $69); Lisinopril ($3.80 vs. $17.10) and Escitalopram, generic for Lexapro ($10.10 vs. $51). Customers can shop “by condition.” Walmart blogged Tuesday that it’s partnering with Waldo to make eyecare more accessible and affordable. It’s the exclusive retailer for Waldo contact lenses that are “enriched with essential vitamins, including B12, to help refresh and rejuvenate eyes.” The 30-pack of Waldo Hydra Boost Daily Lenses is 13%-84% off the cash price of comparable branded daily disposable lenses at Walmart, said the retailer.

The House will vote soon on the Advancing Telehealth Beyond COVID-19 Act (HR-4040), Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said on the floor Thursday. HR-4040 would permanently lift some restrictions on Medicare reimbursement for telehealth services and coverage of those services at federally qualified health centers and rural health clinics. It would also remove restrictions that limit healthcare providers’ ability to give their patients access to smart devices and innovative digital technology. HR-4040 “would further extend critical telehealth policies implemented during” the pandemic, Hoyer said. Congress lifted some limits on telehealth eligibility for Medicare in March 2020 (see 2003250046). Lawmakers have long supported proposals to make those rollbacks permanent (see 2008170064).

Harman’s Digital Transformation Solutions (DTS) business unit is now an Amazon Web Services healthcare consulting competency partner, the Samsung subsidiary said Tuesday. Harman's cloud-based Remote Care Platform is designed to give patients diagnosed with complex conditions technology-enabled, centralized monitoring and nursing support, the company said. Healthcare providers can use RCP to collect data from wearables and mobile devices, and after “anonymization,” the data is used to analyze the patients’ health after they have been discharged from the hospital, it said.

Walmart Health is expanding into Florida with five locations, it said Tuesday. A Jacksonville healthcare location that opened Tuesday will be joined by others in the Jacksonville, Orlando and Tampa areas over the next three months, the company said. The centers address a demand for healthcare in Florida, which has one primary care doctor per 1,380 residents, said David Carmouche, Walmart senior vice president-omnichannel care offerings. Walmart Health locations in Florida will be the first centers to use Epic health technology, which Walmart said is the most widely used health records system in the U.S., used by more than 2,000 hospitals and 45,000 clinics. Through the Epic system, Walmart Health will engage patients, healthcare professionals, insurance carriers and other stakeholders via a patient portal, it said.

MayaMD, in a partnership with LG, is pursuing healthcare providers to use its health channel on LG smart TVs, said the telehealth platform provider Friday. Pilot programs will integrate MayaMD’s conversational AI health assistant with LG connected TVs to provide care to heart disease patients, while measuring the technology's impact on patient engagement and health outcomes, the companies said.

Teasing a forthcoming category of “consumer biowearable sensors” called Lingo (see 2201060040) during a CES 2022 keynote, Abbott Labs decided “to put a stake in the ground here and start talking about what we've always believed to be another opportunity, a sizable opportunity,” said CEO Robert Ford on a Q4 earnings call Wednesday. The Lingo business model “is a little bit different” than that of the Libre diabetic-monitoring product from which it was fashioned, and “probably a much larger” total addressable market “in terms of people,” said Ford. “We're really, really in the early inning stages here, but I think the numbers could be pretty significant and pretty large.” Abbott expects to launch its first Lingo products outside the U.S. toward the second half of 2022, said Ford. In the U.S., “we'll obviously be having the conversations” with the Food and Drug Administration “in terms of how that regulatory path is going to shape up,” but it’s “probably a little bit too early right now to talk about that,” he said. “We're very excited” about Lingo “because we've seen this opportunity many, many years back and made the moves” to support its development, he said.

Two FCC connected care pilot recipients that won a combined $800,000 in government funding withdrew from the program, said Wireline Bureau letters posted Thursday in docket 18-213. Grady Health System notified the FCC of its withdrawal in November. Grady said its commitment to provide a 15% match and personnel "is not feasible at this time," saying the proposed reporting requirements "raise concerns." Heritage Clinic notified the commission in December without detailing a reason and asked that the funding would be awarded to another agency. Grady sought more than $635,000 to provide telehealth services in Georgia, while Heritage sought nearly $200,000 to cover the cost of offering video telehealth services in California.

More than 60% of U.S. broadband households used a telehealth service in the past 12 months, said Parks Associates Wednesday. Some 37% own a wearable, 29% a smartwatch and 25% have a connected health device, it said. Parks plans a virtual Connected Health Summit Thursday starting at noon EST.