Liability: “What if a patient’s data shows signs of an ailment, but no one notices?”
Reliability: ”Devices such as fitness trackers aren’t regulated by the Food and Drug Administration, so how much should doctors rely on them?”
Privacy and security: “Health privacy laws don’t extend to technology companies that make trackers and apps.”
How to get paid for the time reviewing the data from these devices?
“It is slowly changing…but it’s still challenging to get paid for analysis and for email and phone call time,” John Schumann, M.D., a Tulsa internist who blogs on health issues at GlassHospital, told the AP.
Other problems:
The AP also noted: ”These devices and apps do little to ensure that patients take the medicines they’re supposed to. There are companies developing sensors to record when you pick up a bottle, but for now, doctors have to trust their patients.”
And “What we need is data for older people, and they are not doing that {using the apps and devices} right now, with rare, rare exceptions,” said David J. Cook, M.D., who is leading research at the Mayo Clinic into how trackers and apps can improve care.
