With the introduction of wearable technologies such as the Apple Watch, patients have been able to monitor their health like never before. Advocating for patients to take charge of their own health has been a goal for many doctors, hospitals and big tech companies seeking to disrupt a system ripe for change.
One of the Apple Watch’s unique features is to screen for an irregular heart rhythm known as atrial fibrillation, a condition the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expects will affect 12.1 million people in the United States by 2030. Diagnosing and treating atrial fibrillation can help prevent strokes and other conditions that cause thousands of deaths each year. In 2018 alone, the CDC calculated nearly 180,000 people died from conditions related to atrial fibrillation.
The Apple Watch uses an “optical heart sensor to detect the pulse wave at the wrist and look for variability in beat‑to‑beat intervals” and sends the wearer a notification if the rhythm is suggestive of atrial fibrillation. But what happens when someone without a history of atrial fibrillation gets a notification that a watch detected an irregular rhythm? Should the person wait and tell the family doctor at the next visit? Look it up online? Go to the emergency room? Many choose the latter.
