Samsung buys Xealth to merge data from wearables, hospitals • The Register
Samsung has acquired US company Xealth to combine data drawn from its wearable devices and hospital records.
Xealth promises to make life easier for medicos by providing a platform that lets them access patient information from multiple systems in a single electronic health record. The Seattle company launched in 2017.
Samsung’s announcement of the acquisition laments the fact that “customer health data measured on wellness tools, which keep track of one’s wellness journey every day, and clinical records at hospitals are managed separately, leading to missed insights and delayed care.”
The Korean giant also notes that it has packed its wearables full of sensors that measure users’ health, and suggests “synergy between Samsung’s advanced wearable technology and Xealth’s digital health platform can create a link between home health monitoring and clinical decision-making.”
Neither party to the deal has discussed how much money will change hands to make it happen, but both are excited that the combined companies can deliver useful health services.
A canned quote from Xealth CEO Mike McSherry states “Customer health data from wearables can fill in context that is missing to hospitals and bring more data analysis possibilities that were not available just with clinical records.”
Samsung’s announcement states the combined companies “will provide a seamless experience across wellness and medical care and bring hyper-personalized, preventative care to people.”
Samsung didn’t mention how it will ensure privacy or security once its wearables exchange data with Xealth, but earlier this week did announce enhanced security for AI apps on its Galaxy smartphones, including automatically signing users out of their Samsung accounts if analysis suggests a device has become a source of unusually high risk. If Samsung can bring that functionality to its wearables, perhaps users will be more comfortable having their heartbeats sent to hospital.
Manufacturers of wearables have tried to have health authorities certify their products as medical devices that can do things like monitor blood pressure, without much success. They’ve done so because if their machines become part of a healthcare ecosystem there’s the chance millions more will acquire their wearables. Samsung buying Xealth is another expression of that ambition.
Samsung expects the deal to close in 2025. Then comes the wait to see what products the combo spawns. ®
