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Underwater + cellular is pretty impressive. The extra sensors + medical algos are what is really going to win in the long run though. Once doctors start prescri

Underwater + cellular is pretty impressive. The extra sensors + medical algos are what is really going to win in the long run though. Once doctors start prescribing Apple Watches things will really start to takeoff.

ch4s3 9y ago
>Once doctors start prescribing Apple Watches I wouldn't hold my breath on that, for a few reasons: - The sensors likely aren't good enough yet - To be prescribed and paid for by insurance cos and medicare, it would need to be an FDA approved device, an onerous and years(maybe decade) long process that I doubt apple would want to go through. You can't have an FDA approved device that you constantly update for example - There is no evidence that this kind constant vital stats recording is medically useful. You'd think it would be, but the literature suggests otherwise So, there are a ton of hurdles for medical use. They would need to establish the utility with a years long peer reviewed study, get FDA approval, convince payers to cover it, convince doctors to prescribe it, and brand it as a health device. I'm not convinced that this is feasible.
- robotresearcher 9y ago
  Doctors can recommend things without prescribing them. No need for approvals in that case.
  - ch4s3 9y ago
    Sure, they can... but they generally will not if the evidence doesn't back it up, and it isn't covered, and it wasn't taught in med school when they went through.
tdb7893 9y ago
I interned at a company that did some prosthetics and other medical devices. They were designed expressly for medical applications and they still were a pain to get approved. Sensors have to be really accurate if a doctor is going to use them clinically and most smartwatches aren't close yet in my experience
- theshrike79 9y ago
  So accurate data from a handful of people is better for studies than a crapton of data from less accurate sources?

ch4s3 9y ago

>Once doctors start prescribing Apple Watches I wouldn't hold my breath on that, for a few reasons: - The sensors likely aren't good enough yet - To be prescribed and paid for by insurance cos and medicare, it would need to be an FDA approved device, an onerous and years(maybe decade) long process that I doubt apple would want to go through. You can't have an FDA approved device that you constantly update for example - There is no evidence that this kind constant vital stats recording is medically useful. You'd think it would be, but the literature suggests otherwise So, there are a ton of hurdles for medical use. They would need to establish the utility with a years long peer reviewed study, get FDA approval, convince payers to cover it, convince doctors to prescribe it, and brand it as a health device. I'm not convinced that this is feasible.

robotresearcher 9y ago
Doctors can recommend things without prescribing them. No need for approvals in that case.
- ch4s3 9y ago
  Sure, they can... but they generally will not if the evidence doesn't back it up, and it isn't covered, and it wasn't taught in med school when they went through.

tdb7893 9y ago

I interned at a company that did some prosthetics and other medical devices. They were designed expressly for medical applications and they still were a pain to get approved. Sensors have to be really accurate if a doctor is going to use them clinically and most smartwatches aren't close yet in my experience

theshrike79 9y ago
So accurate data from a handful of people is better for studies than a crapton of data from less accurate sources?