The Apple Watch and Fall Detection – What’s it Mean?

When Apple speaks, a puzzled market listens. When Apple announces, industries crane their necks to hear. Last week they announced two features of a new watch, ECG monitoring and fall detection. In July, Tim Cook apparently did not want to get into the world of FDA regulation. Well, that was then – or he just wasn’t saying. In this new watch, both the ECG feature and fall detection have received FDA clearance within 30 days of applying, startling some observers who noted that closer to 150 days was more typical for a medical device.  Healthcare observers are concerned that false positives from ECG readings could propel people unnecessarily to already-overloaded Emergency Rooms. To date, the Apple Watch may have been of greatest interest to 40 year old males. Interestingly, 70% of cases of atrial fibrillation are among the 65+ population.  Does Apple really want the 65+ population to buy an Apple watch?

Let’s talk about fall detection.  This was the option less discussed – and maybe for the target Apple audience, less relevant. But consider: according to Pew, half (or more) of the 50 million 65+ population owns a smartphone, and let’s assume nearly 50% of those are iPhone owners. Would they be interested in a fall detection feature? Would they need one – or would a family member encourage it? This feature too is also set to alert ‘emergency services’ if the user requests it (911, most likely) or if the wearer is non-responsive. There are a few standalone fall detectors on the market – here’s an example list with more on the way – but most connect the user to a call center.

Is there a need to speak to someone? Perhaps, as with mobile PERS devices, an intermediate option speaking with the person who fell (like a call center) could save fire departments and the watch wearer from non-emergency trips – and just wanting to chat with someone. Assuming the population most likely to fall are older adults in the older age range, call me crazy, but I am betting they are not iPhone owners.  For those with other types of fall risks, maybe it makes sense to have a device that contacts family or others who have agreed to be contacted; or an app that contacts a call center, like FallCall; or a watch linked to a PERS call center.

Why Apple? So we know that Apple wants to get into 'healthcare' and we know healthcare is often used as a euphemism for aging – which apparently is an investment killer. But Apple is a trendsetter, not an investor – and investors wearing Apple watches follow the company with near-religious fervor – promoting and buying their stock, no matter how underwhelming the new phones might be. Whether the ECG offering is a breathless game-changer for Apple in the medical device market or comes with caveats, remains to be seen. As for its role as a mobile PERS device, Parks Associates expressed hope (PERS vendors may start selling) and caution about upfront price of $400 (too high). So let’s assume that mobile PERS is 20% of the total PERS market. Parks thinks the total PERS market comprises 4 million users; that seems low. But okay. If a user (or a reseller) wants to appear cool and has customers who are already Apple-cool and may be aging into fall risk and who can afford the device and will tolerate the small screen-size --  then maybe this is a viable sub-category of PERS. Apple then partners with a few monitoring centers, not just fire departments, when that happens. Count me as doubtful.