DIGITAL HEALTH BRIEFING: Comcast will launch a digital health platform - FDA's five-point plan for device security - New study adds weight to remote patient monitoring

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COMCAST TAKES A STAB AT HEALTHCARE COMMUNICATIONS: Comcast plans to enter the healthcare market with the lofty goal of improving the efficiency and consumer experience of care delivery, according to CNBC. The media giant is partnering with Independence Health Group - one of the largest Blue Shield insurers in the US - to develop an open source tech and communications platform that will allow patients to access their data throughout their healthcare journey. The venture will pilot in Philadelphia before a nationwide rollout in the second half of 2019.

While specific details about what the platform will do to support consumers are scarce, it's expected that it will house an educational component and telemedicine capabilities, according to Investopedia. At first, the platform will target individuals who are experiencing well-known health conditions, such as knee surgery, following them throughout the regimen of pre-op, post-op, and maintenance.

Each company stands to gain from the independently run digital health firm. For Comcast - the largest cable and broadband provider in the US - the venture will enhance the Comcast experience by providing customers with access to basic healthcare information that they'd otherwise have to go elsewhere for. Meanwhile, Independence benefits from providing its customers with a more transparent, efficient, and customer-first health offering.

Comcast is just the latest in a string of non-healthcare companies entering the market to solve the US healthcare crisis. Health systems and insurers are looking to tech companies' solutions to help boost customer satisfaction, cut costs, and improve data interoperability.

• Amazon appears to be building out a full healthcare ecosystem in an effort to become a one-stop shop for health systems and patients. The company introduced several cloud and voice initiatives, as well as supplying medical devices to clinics and small hospitals, and partnered with JPMorgan and Berkshire to start its own health company.
• Apple updated its Health app to make it easier for some US iPhone users to record, store, and share their health data with providers and insurers. At the end of March, the company announced an additional 27 health systems were ready to use the service, bringing the total number of partnered health systems to 39
• Google introduced the Cloud Healthcare API during HIMSS18 in March, which aims to make it easier for health organizations to collect, store, and access health data. The internet giant then partnered with the American Medical Association to run an interoperability challenge.

Comcast and Independence view the tech companies' healthcare ambitions as opportunities, rather than threats to their initiative. The two firms aim to have tech companies use the digital health platform to house their services and features.

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FDA UNVEILS FIVE-POINT PLAN FOR MEDICAL DEVICE SAFETY: As a part of its 2019 budget request last week, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released a five-point plan to improve medical device safety. The administration has been working to streamline the process of getting new digital health tech to market. For example, there's the updated Medical Device User Fee Agreement (MDUFA), or the CHRONIC Care Act, which expands the reach and purview of mobile solutions. And as new medical devices and solutions are brought to market, the FDA is now focusing on safety enhancements to keep pace with emerging cyber threats. A part of the plan is the consolidation of the premarket and postmarket offices within its medical device center to better align the development and maintenance of medical devices. The FDA is also considering a requirement for device makers to adopt policies and procedures to disclose device vulnerabilities as they occur. Looking ahead, the agency will look at developing scientific premarket toolkits for developers that will better assure users that the devices are meeting the FDA's safety standards.

NEW STUDY ADDS WEIGHT TO BENEFITS OF REMOTE PATIENT MONITORING: A study by a team of researchers from the University of Madrid has shown that 24-hour blood-pressure monitoring is a better predictor of cardiovascular and all-cause mortality than single blood-pressure tests in clinics, MobiHealthNews reports. The study offers more validation for the use of remote patient monitoring (RPM) wearables and devices to provide clinicians with fuller, more accurate patient data. And while such devices aren't yet a common part of standard healthcare, more and more research and clinical trials are underway to demonstrate the usefulness of continuous RPM, especially for things like chronic illnesses. Chronic illnesses are the biggest strain on the healthcare industry, accounting for 86% of the $2.7 trillion spent in annual health care costs in the US in 2014 alone. Aging populations and the ongoing decline in direct care workers means this strain is only getting worse. Wearable adoption is slowly taking off as consumers begin to see the benefits of quantifying their health data by monitoring steps and heart rates, for example. This is particularly attractive to younger generations, with 67% of US millennials saying they would wear a wearable device in exchange for personalized insurance, according to the 2018 Business Insider Intelligence Insurance Technology Study.

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IN OTHER NEWS:

• Two English health trusts have begun using a link up that allows their physicians to access patient data that's held within each other's electronic patient system, Digital Health reports. The West Suffolk Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and the Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust are global digital exemplars of NHS England's flagship initiative that supports advanced digital trusts to pave the way for those less advanced.
• Samsung is reportedly competing with Google in a bid to acquire Nokia's digital health business, according to Phone Arena. Nokia has been seeking a resolution to its flailing digital health arm woes since Q4 2017 and a slew of tech companies are vying to snatch up the segment to strengthen their own offerings.
• Sempre Health, a medication management startup, is collaborating with drug maker Novo Nordisk, to improve adherence rates in diabetics, MedCity News reports. Sempre Health will send participants a text message that offers a discount if the consumer picks up their medication on a certain day.