Garmin Partners with Allscripts to Enhance Hospital Patient Management Through Wearable Integration

By Zhu Yinqing | Edited by Zhou Chao



With continuous breakthroughs in information and sensor technologies, wearable devices are rapidly integrating into people’s daily lives. Over the past year, the wearable device market has experienced exceptional growth. According to the latest market data released by the well-known research firm IDC, global shipments of wearable devices totaled 78.1 million units in 2015, representing a 171.6% increase compared with 2014. Global shipments of wearable devices are projected to reach 110 million units by the end of 2016.

However, it is undeniable that despite the rapid proliferation of wearable devices, questions regarding their practical value have persisted. Currently, mainstream wearable devices are primarily smart bands and smartwatches, with functions focused on the real-time monitoring of physical activity and vital signs, such as walking distance, calories burned, sleep quality, heart rate, and blood pressure. In many cases, after obtaining this data, users can only gain a general understanding of their health status, failing to identify the underlying issues concealed within the data. In short, wearable devices are still unable to address practical problems in healthcare and medicine.

However, this issue is being addressed. Recent industry news reports that Garmin, the fourth-largest supplier in the wearable market, will partner with Allscripts, a well-known medical solutions company. The collaboration involves integrating Garmin’s vivofit suite of real-time health tracking devices into Allscripts’ FollowMyHealth and Care In Motion platforms, aiming to help identify health management priorities for specific populations. The project will be piloted this year at Berkshire Medical Center in Massachusetts.

Care In Motion is a population health management solution that helps healthcare institutions better deliver patient-centered, outcome- or performance-oriented care, while providing incentives to healthcare providers. FollowMyHealth is an interactive platform that enables patients and their families to stay closely connected with their physicians, fostering active patient engagement.

As part of the pilot program, Berkshire Medical Center will evaluate outcomes in a specific patient population using Garmin’s Vivofit suite of wearable devices and the Index Smart Scale. Through integration with FollowMyHealth, Berkshire Medical Center will receive real-time updates on patient data, thereby enhancing disease monitoring capabilities and enabling more informed care decisions for patients.

It is reported that the vivofit suite has a battery life of one year and remains water-resistant at depths of up to 50 meters. “This device will enable our care managers to gain clearer insights into patients’ health conditions. We look forward to making further improvements in patient appointment scheduling and condition monitoring, thereby streamlining related healthcare processes,” said Bill Young, Chief Information Officer of Berkshire Medical Center.

Although cases of “integration” between wearable devices and certain medical systems remain relatively scarce, the cross-industry collaboration between Garmin and Allscripts is not unique. According to Ms. Pamela Landis, Vice President of Information Services at Carolinas HealthCare System, some Fitbit wearable device users have imported their personal health data into the MyCarolinas Tracker app, enabling backend physicians to accurately assess users’ health conditions based on this data and provide early notifications to help prevent disease before it occurs. Currently, the app has achieved some success in the early intervention of chronic heart failure.