Las Vegas, NV– Watches, bracelets, necklaces, pins, t-shirts, rings, even socks were on display en masse at CES Digital Health Summit 2015.
It looked more like Macy’s than a technology conference.
Except that each piece of this bling and fashion could monitor some variation of pulse rate, blood oxygen level, body composition, steps, calories, sleep quality, activity, and run times. All of them chimed or beeped the greater promise of sharing the endless streams of data straight to their doctor’s office, so the doctor could…could…could–ah, there’s the rub.
While we shake our heads and blame everything from privacy issues to the philistine physician for the lack of seamless connectivity from my sporty new Swarovski bejeweled tracker to my EHR, the real disconnect has more to do with what we’re tracking.
Your healthcare professional applauds the fact that you’re averaging 10,000 steps a day and sleeping like a baby (though I also saw a few innovations designed to help your baby sleep like a baby,) and your HCP wants nothing more than to gather longitudinal, real-world data from you, but that data needs to be of a different sort. As more than a few physicians and chief medical officers voiced from the stage, they want hospital-accurate blood pressure readings, glucose levels, tissue fluid amounts, spirometer results, or what they called “relevant and actionable data”.
While the show hall was screaming with wearables, the doctors were screaming for more patches (mc10inc.com), more ingestibles (proteus.com), and more wireless devices (qualcommlife.com). They want data that is precise, secure (even from patient error and manipulation), and truly assists them in assessing functional progress of their patients.
So, unless you’re sporting a Masimo Pronto-7 hemoglobin tracker (masimo.com) along with your slick Withings Activite Pop watch, take everything off for your annual physical.
About the Author:
As Managing Director of Innovation and Insights for Syneos Health Communications, Leigh is responsible for building and scaling a global team of healthcare experts who together help life science leaders better understand the complex lives, influences and expectations of their customers. Specifically, they uncover actionable insights that fuel empathy and creativity; lead co-creation events that let marketers learn from peers, trends, and new possibilities; and help clients identify the most valuable and useful new customer experiences to create.
Leigh has worked with Fortune 1000 companies to craft their digital, mobile, social and CRM strategies for nearly 20 years.She’s worked for category-leading agencies in retail, public affairs, B2B technology, and higher education. Prior to moving to Syneos Health Communications, she held several leadership roles at our largest agency, GSW. There, she founded an innovation practice fueled by the zeitgeist and spearheaded digital and innovation thinking across the business.
Leigh has taken a special interest in complex healthcare products that can change lives in meaningful ways. She was recently a strategic lead on the 3rd largest launch in pharmaceutical history: Tecfidera. Before that she had keys roles with Eli Lilly Oncology, Abbott Nutrition, Amgen Cardiovascular, and Eli Lilly Diabetes.
A critical part of Leigh’s work is trends and new ideas. Every year, she convenes a group of trend watchers from across our global network to identify the shifts most critical to healthcare marketers. This year, she led over 250 experts to experts to focus on the most important changes in the commercial, consumer, marketing, digital and healthcare landscapes. (See reports at trends.health)
Leigh is a sought-after writer and speaker. Recognized as one of the most inspiring people in the pharmaceutical industry by PharmaVoice and Top 10 Innovation Catalysts of 2017 by MM&M, Leigh also was recognized as a Rising Star by the Healthcare Businesswomen's Association (HBA) for her overt passion, industry thought leadership and significant contributions in new business, strategy and mentoring.
