Manipal Hospitals to use Fitbit wearables to monitor patients after high-risk surgery

Manipal Hospitals has said it will use Google’s Fitbit wearables and a remote monitoring platform to check on the progress of patients who have undergone a high-risk surgery.

The Fitbit devices along with the patient monitoring platform will be provided by ConnectedLife, a Singapore-based health management solutions company. Manipal Hospitals said it has signed a strategic partnership with the company. 

"Through this partnership, we are expecting post-surgery care to become seamless, as wearable technology will help us monitor certain critical parameters of patients who have undergone total knee replacement surgery, angioplasty, cardiac bypass surgery, and other high-risk surgeries,” said Sudarshan Ballal, chairman of Manipal Hospitals. 

The Fitbit devices will read and record patient data such as heart rate, oxygen saturation level, sleep quality, steps, and pain score before and after the surgery. The captured data will be shared on the ConnectedLife platform for the doctors to assess. 

In addition to keeping track of patients' health, the monitoring platform can be tailored for each patient to send them reminders to take medicines or do physiotherapy on time. It can also send out alerts if it detects any major shift in the physiological parameters. 

Patients who were part of the initial program have seen improvements in terms of taking medicine or doing exercises in time, resulting in better physical activity after surgery, Manipal Hospitals claims. 

Dilip Jose, managing director, and chief executive officer of Manipal Hospitals points out, "the platform will allow the hospital to replace lengthy manual processes with 24/7 insight-based care and monitoring, enabling recovery outside of hospitals." 

Jose believes, the data collected from the ConnectedLife platform can also help the hospital understand and develop new methods in cost effectiveness, compliance, patient comfort and ease of use. 

Daryl Arnold, founder, and chief executive officer of ConnectedLife said his company will add new features and capabilities every two to four weeks based on feedback from patients and doctors. 

Fitbit on its part said it is working with ConnectedLife to engage with strategic partners like Manipal Hospitals and develop and implement solutions that can help build a digital health ecosystem in India. 

Use of remote monitoring tools to assist patients recovering from home has grown in India. Several service providers offering Internet of Things (IoT) enabled beds and wearables have also proliferated, especially after covid-19 outbreak. 

However, with the growing use of apps for consultation and adoption of digital solutions by healthcare providers, the privacy and security concerns over patient data and who has access to it have also grown. 

Arnold assured that his company will maintain the strictest accountability for data acquisition, privacy, and protection.