Wearables worn by millions of people worldwide are capable of tracking sleep, monitoring heart rhythm and even measuring atrial fibrillation. While many tech companies are piling on the number of features offered in wearable devices, some physicians are unclear as to how to use the information.
“The technology has outpaced us,” said Rod Passman, MD, a cardiologist at Northwestern University in Chicago. “Industry came out with these things because they could. Now we’re playing catch-up and trying to figure out what to do with this information.”
Some of the information recorded by these devices is also causing anxiety for patients, driving them to the physician when they receive a notification of an irregularity. In the past, atrial fibrillation wouldn’t have been detected or even treated by physicians, but now, worried patients are asking physicians for answers.
“It’s caused some increased burden, handling phone calls, office visits,” said Ethan Weiss, MD, a cardiologist at the University of California, San Francisco.
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