Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, physicians and hospitals have ramped up their use of remote patient monitoring devices to care for patients at home.
But integrating the data from these devices back into electronic health record (EHR) systems is an ongoing challenge.
To keep up with this trend, French company Withings, maker of smart scales, watches and other connected devices, has teamed up with Redox to make its solutions compatible with most EHR solutions, the companies announced Tuesday.
The tie-up will enable Withings' remote patient monitoring solution, Med Pro Care, to integrate with nearly all medical records systems used by physicians, hospitals and medical institutions, according to the companies.
Redox is a health IT company focused on interoperability. It provides a single, secure API endpoint that connects and integrates provider EHRs with healthcare products and services.
“During the pandemic, the importance of remote patient monitoring soared. However, for its long-term success and utilization to be assured, it must be simple for both physicians and their patients,” said Mathieu Letombe, CEO of Withings, in a statement.
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Through the partnership, physicians can now order and ship Withings connected health devices directly to their patients through their EHR. Data from the remote monitoring devices, such as patients' daily blood pressure, weight, sleep patterns and heart rates, will be integrated into the clinicians’ medical record systems.
"With Redox’s one connection and our range of devices, designed to easily integrate into patients’ everyday lives, the entire process is effortless for all involved, and many of the common frictions associated with remote patient monitoring are removed," Letombe said.
Even before coronavirus, the global remote patient monitoring market was expected to double over the next few years. Revised predictions from Research and Markets show it growing even faster—from $745.7 million this year to more than $1.7 billion by 2027.
Withings, a French company widely known for its connected consumer health devices, has been pushing further into the healthcare industry.
In the connected consumer health space, Withings' watches and wearables are directly competing with the likes of Apple and Fitbit. Over the past decade, Withings has added medical grade capabilities to everyday household items such as watches, scales and mattresses.
The company's devices capture more than 20 vital health parameters, including health vitals such as blood pressure, ECG, weight, pulse wave velocity, heart rate, activity levels, sleep apnea and sleep patterns.
In September, the company closed a $60 million series B funding round with plans to invest in globally scaling its dedicated healthcare business-to-business division Withings Med Pro. The round was co-led by Gilde Healthcare, Idinvest Partners and Bpifrance.
Withings says its Med Pro Care solution enables health professionals to monitor patients with chronic diseases—such as diabetes, hypertension or chronic heart failure—from home.
The solution overcomes many pain points associated with remote patient monitoring faced by both patients and physicians. Patients benefit from user-friendly devices that require little to no setup to fit into their daily lives.
“Withings has one of the largest portfolios of medically-validated connected health devices available, as well as some of the highest user retention rates in the industry. With our partnership, physicians can easily send Withings devices to their patients and seamlessly monitor them remotely to gain valuable insights on daily habits and vitals,” said Niko Skievaski, co-founder and president of Redox, in a statement.
“Having access to the data Withings’ devices produces not only helps clinicians identify serious issues during telehealth visits but also improves long-term patient outcomes," he said.