Empowering your patients to live ahealthierday.
Apple Watch has powerful apps that make it the ultimate device for a healthy life. And it can support you and your patients across multiple aspects of health, including heart health, mobility, activity, medications andmore.
Heart rate notifications.
Apple Watch checks for unusually high or low heart rates in the background, which could be signs of a serious underlying condition. This could help you and your patients identify situations that may warrant furtherevaluation.
If a patient’s heart rate is above 120bpm or below 40 bpm while they appear to have been inactive for 10minutes, the user will receive a notification. Patients can adjust the threshold bpm or turn these notifications on or off. All heart rate notifications — along with date, time and heart rate — can be viewed in the Health app on iPhone.
Learn more about heart rate notifications
Irregular rhythm notifications.
The irregular rhythm notification occasionally checks for signs of irregular rhythms that may be suggestive of atrial fibrillation (AFib). This feature won’t detect all instances of AFib but may catch something that can provide your patients with an early indication that further evaluation may be warranted.
Irregular rhythm notifications use theoptical heart sensor to detect
the pulse wave at the wrist and look for variability in beat‑to‑beat intervals when the user is at rest. If the algorithm repeatedly detects an irregular rhythm suggestive of AFib, your patient will receive a notification and the date, time and beat‑to‑beat heart rate will be recorded in theHealthapp.
The updated ECG app with additional rhythm classification received clearance for users 22years orolder.
Learn more about irregular rhythm notifications
ECG app.
With the ECG app, patients who experience symptoms such as rapid or skipped heartbeat, or receive the irregular rhythm notification, can capture an ECG and record their symptoms. This real-world data can enable you to make more informed andtimely decisions regarding further evaluation and care.
The ECG app uses the electrical heart sensor built into theDigital Crown and the back crystal to record a single-lead ECG similar to a Lead I ECG. The ECG app then provides a result of sinus rhythm, atrial fibrillation, atrial fibrillation with high heart rate, inconclusive or poor recording, and prompts the user to enter any symptoms such as rapid or pounding heartbeat, dizziness or fatigue. An inconclusive result may occur if there is presence of arrhythmias other than AFib, presence of an ICD or pacemaker or poor electrical signal, which can result from right axis deviation. The recorded waveform, results, date, time and any symptoms are recorded and can be exported from theHealth app as a PDF to share with a clinician. If the patient notes symptoms that indicate a serious condition, they are prompted to immediately call emergency services.
The updated ECG app with additional rhythm classification received clearance for users 22 years or older.
Learn more about the ECG app
Learn about expanded use of the ECG app during the COVID‑19pandemic(PDF)
How the ECG app works.
- Launch the ECG app on Apple Watch Series 4 or later.
- Rest arms on a table or in lap, and hold index finger on the Digital Crown for about 30 seconds.
- Review rhythm classification and record symptoms.
- View and export ECG waveform, rhythm classification, date/time of recording, and any reported symptoms in the Health app on iPhone.
- Allow clinicians to view a snapshot of findings as a PDF.
AFib History.
AFib History is a first-of-its-kind feature that provides patients who are diagnosed with atrial fibrillation with lifestyle insights and long-term tracking of how frequently they show signs of AFib. Your patients will receive notifications with an estimate ofthetime they spent in AFib each week while wearing their AppleWatch. Patients can also view a detailed history in theHealthapp.
Your patients can also track lifestyle factors that may contribute to their condition, including weight, exercise, sleep, alcohol consumption and mindful minutes. These factors are charted alongside their AFib burden to help them better understand therelationship between their lifestyle andAFib.
AFib History is FDA cleared for users aged 22 years and older with a diagnosis of atrial fibrillation. Once AFib History is turnedon, irregular rhythm notifications will be automatically turnedoff.
Validation of AFib detection and monitoring features.
Each feature on AppleWatch is subject to rigorous scientific validation to help your patients receive trustworthy and reliable insights. In 2017 and 2018, researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine worked with Apple on the Apple Heart Study and over 4,00,000 AppleWatch users to validate the ability ofwearable technology to aid in the early detection of atrial fibrillation and to support the introduction of theirregular rhythm notification feature. Since then Apple has conducted several prospective multi-centre clinical trials to support additional products, including the ECG app, enhancements to theirregular rhythm notification feature and, most recently, the AFib History feature.
See the results of the Apple Heart Study
Learn more about arrhythmia detection validation (PDF)
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This can be an addition to our growing armamentarium to identify AFib, which can be intermittent and asymptomatic.
Products that seek to provide deeper health insights, like theAppleWatch, have the potential to be significant in new clinical care models and shared decision-making between people and their healthcare providers.
Apple is democratising healthcare, providing on‑demand access to accurate sensors and software that can help consumers develop real healthcare literacy and inform how daily choices impact their health.
Compare AppleWatch models.
- Heart Rate and Irregular Rhythm Notifications
- AFib History
- ECG App
- Low Cardio Fitness Notifications
- Blood Oxygen Level
- Fall Detection
- Sensors
- Optical heart sensor
- Optical heart sensor
- Electrical heart sensor
- Optical heart sensor and GPS
- Optical heart sensor
- Accelerometer and gyroscope
- AppleWatch Series3
- Heart Rate and Irregular Rhythm Notifications Optical heart sensor
- AFib History Optical heart sensor
- ECG App Electrical heart sensor
- Low Cardio Fitness Notifications Optical heart sensor and GPS
- Blood Oxygen Level Optical heart sensor
- Fall Detection Accelerometer and gyroscope
- AppleWatch SE
- Heart Rate and Irregular Rhythm Notifications Optical heart sensor
- AFib History Optical heart sensor
- ECG App Electrical heart sensor
- Low Cardio Fitness Notifications Optical heart sensor and GPS
- Blood Oxygen Level Optical heart sensor
- Fall Detection Accelerometer and gyroscope
- AppleWatch Series4 and 5
- Heart Rate and Irregular Rhythm Notifications Optical heart sensor
- AFib History Optical heart sensor
- ECG App Electrical heart sensor
- Low Cardio Fitness Notifications Optical heart sensor and GPS
- Blood Oxygen Level Optical heart sensor
- Fall Detection Accelerometer and gyroscope
- AppleWatch Series6 or later
- Heart Rate and Irregular Rhythm Notifications Optical heart sensor
- AFib History Optical heart sensor
- ECG App Electrical heart sensor
- Low Cardio Fitness Notifications Optical heart sensor and GPS
- Blood Oxygen Level Optical heart sensor
- Fall Detection Accelerometer and gyroscope
- AppleWatch Ultra
- Heart Rate and Irregular Rhythm Notifications Optical heart sensor
- AFib History Optical heart sensor
- ECG App Electrical heart sensor
- Low Cardio Fitness Notifications Optical heart sensor and GPS
- Blood Oxygen Level Optical heart sensor
- Fall Detection Accelerometer and gyroscope
Mobility and Cardio Fitness.
Mobility and cardiovascular fitness can be strong indicators of overall physical health and a predictor of long-term well-being. AppleWatch and iPhone can provide estimates of mobility metrics to give you and your patients a better understanding of how they impact mobility today, and provide tools to monitor these factors over time. Mobility metrics include CardioFitness (VO2 max), 6-Minute Walk Distance and other metrics used to measure walking quality (Walking Speed, Step Length, Double Support Time and Walking Asymmetry). These metrics can be utilised for research and app development with the user’spermission.
Learn more about how these metrics were developed and validated:
Using AppleWatch to estimate Cardio Fitness with VO2 max (PDF)
Using AppleWatch to estimate 6-Minute Walk Distance (PDF)
Measuring Walking Quality Through iPhone Mobility Metrics (PDF)
Fall detection.
When a hard fall is detected with AppleWatchSeries4 or later, an alert appears and allows the user to easily call emergency services or dismiss the alert. Ifthe user is unresponsive for about aminute, an emergency call will be placedautomatically and a message will be sent to the user’s emergency contacts. All falls detected are recorded in theHealthapp. This feature is automatically enabled for users 55years and older and can be turned on for anyone in the AppleWatch app oniPhone.
Learn more about fall detection
Medical ID.
Medical ID allows emergency personnel and emergency room clinicians to access critical medical information from a patient’s iPhone Lock Screen or Apple Watch without requiring a passcode, and without compromising patient privacy. Patients can list important information such as allergies, medications, conditions, organ donor preferences and emergency contacts by setting up Medical ID in the Health app oniPhone.
Learn more about accessing Medical ID on AppleWatch
Medications.
The Medications experience on iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch helps your patients track and manage the medications they take. Your patients can receive reminders to log scheduled medications, see medication adherence over time and review their active medicationslist.
Cycle Tracking.
Cycle Tracking on iPhone, iPad and AppleWatch lets your patients track their menstrual cycle, log symptoms, and receive notifications for upcoming periods and fertile windows. They can also receive notifications when their logged cycle shows signs of a possible cycle deviation, such as irregular or infrequent periods, which can be associated with an underlying medicalcondition.
Learn more about the research that informed cycle deviation notifications
Designed with security and privacy in mind.
When a user’s iPhone or iPad is locked with a passcode, TouchID or FaceID, their health data in the Health app is encrypted on the device. If a user chooses to sync their health data with iCloud, it is encrypted while in transit and atrest.
The future of healthcare is in your hands.
Learn more about Apple in Healthcare
And the future of health is on yourwrist.
Learn more about AppleWatch
