PUBLISHED TUE, FEB 25 2020 Christina Farr@CHRISSYFARR
KEY
POINTS
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Seniors can pick up a
heavily subsidized Apple Watch — for $49 plus tax — at a Best Buy if they are
assigned one for the study.
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It represents one of
the largest randomized digital health trials in history.
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It’s also an example
of a tech company, a pharma company and a retailer partnering up.
Apple and Johnson
& Johnson, a pharma giant, announced plans to team up on Tuesday
on a new study that aims to study whether Apple Watch can
detect a heart rhythm irregularity called atrial fibrillation among seniors,
and encourage them to seek medical help.
Atrial fibrillation is a condition that can
result in an increased risk of strokes and other serious outcomes. Those over
the age of 65 are at much higher risk that their younger counterparts.
Although it might seem like yet another
partnership between Big Tech and pharma, there are at least three reasons why
this study is a big deal and an unprecedented move for both companies.
Size and scope
According to Johnson & Johnson’s Paul
Butron, vice president of medical affairs, who spoke to CNBC by phone, this
study represents the largest randomized trial in the history of cardiovascular
disease.
At a minimum, the goal is to recruit 150,000
people who will be randomly assigned into one of two buckets. Either they’ll be
navigated iPhone app, called Heartline, which
provides health education and tips. Or they’ll be given the Apple Watch, either
as a loaner device or at a heavily subsidized price of $49 plus tax. That’s a
heavy discount from the $399 Apple Watch Series 5, and both companies are
contributing to offer the discount.
Participants can also receive cash rewards for
meeting goals in the app. It also connects to Medicare’s Blue Button API, which
gives patients access their claims data, including information on bills.
Because of the size of the study, it could take
three years for the companies to publish the results. A start-up called
Evidation Health is helping with the research, the companies said. It might not
be successful. There are still some unknowns, which the study will need to
explore. Burton confirmed that the companies will publish either way.
If the study is succeeds — both in using the app
to encourage people to take their medications (oftentimes, blood thinners) and
in detecting atrial fibrillation in a high-risk population — that could lead to
private Medicare plans that help their members pay for the Apple Watch. Apple
is already in active discussions with many of these
plans.
Pharma, tech and
retail
The study involves a collaboration between
Johnson & Johnson, Apple and a large retailer. By phone,
Burton said that seniors who are assigned a watch can pick it up in store or
get it shipped from Best Buy.
There are customer service reps available to
seniors who need help setting up the device, but they can also ask for
assistance at Best Buy. From there, they’ll bring the device home to be
monitored.
That is a step towards a much-discussed future
of health care: Aging in place. The idea is to use devices to help alert
seniors to medical conditions before they get serious, and to send alerts to
emergency services if a serious event occurs, like a fall.
It may eventually help seniors live
independently for longer and cut down on expensive health care outcomes, such
as emergency room visits. Partnerships between tech, pharma and retail are
required to move the industry closer to that holy grail.
Alleviating concerns
from cardiologists
Apple has been critiqued by cardiologists for
its regulated medical features, largely because it has built its device for a
general audience.
Cardiologists are nervous that Apple Watch is
collecting new health signals that aren’t particularly helpful. If a young
person has atrial fibrillation once or twice, it doesn’t necessarily mean that
a physician should prescribe blood thinners, for example. There are a list of
risk factors that doctors have to consider, such as age, gender and medical
history.
Apple is clearly hearing these concerns.
As Burton summed it up: “atrial fibrillation is
a silent epidemic, and most of it is seen in over-65 population.”
Jeffrey Wessler, a cardiologist based in New
York who has expressed concerns with Apple’s approach, praised this focus on
seniors. “This study represents an important step forward for the clinical
utility of consumer-grade wearables,” he said.
“Apple can move beyond the dubious effects of
broad based screening and actually demonstrate the effectiveness of a
watch-based intervention to improve clinical outcomes,” he continued.
Correction: This story was updated to clarify
that CNBC spoke with Paul Burton.
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