Comcast is breaking into the health monitoring device market (CMCSA)

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Cable titan Comcast is digging into the home healthcare market with a new health-monitoring device geared toward senior consumers, according to CNBC. After keeping its development under wraps for over a year, it’s launching into a pilot phase this year and could be positioned to reach the wider market as early as 2020.

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This isn’t Comcast’s first foray into the healthcare space: It partnered with health plan Independence Health Group to form a consumer-facing digital health platform dubbed Quil Health, which is also slated to launch a pilot program later this year.

Here’s what it means: Comcast’s looking to market its device — which is stocked with ambient sensors — to providers that want a fuller picture of how patients are faring at home.

Comcast’s device is focused on keeping tabs on user behavior. Comcast hasn’t released an exhaustive list of the device’s features and capabilities, but here’s what we know: The device’s sensors will have the ability to pick up on whether users are frequenting the bathroom or spending an excessive amount of time in bed. It’s also poised to offer a feature that detects falls, and while it’s not being branded as a communication tool à la smart speakers like Amazon’s Echo, Comcast’s device will be able to make emergency phone calls if necessary.
And it’s already in talks with major hospitals that could implement the device. Among the several hospitals reportedly planning on linking up with Comcast is Chicago-based Rush University Medical Center, a first mover when it comes to health tech: It was the first US hospital to announce that it’s implementing 5G through a landmark partnership with AT&T. This could hint that Comcast has its sights set on partners that already have top-notch tech strategies and infrastructure in place, which could lead to speedier adoption of its devices.

The bigger picture: Comcast’s entering the home healthcare market at a time when demand is high — but other behemoths are already carving out large portions of the market.

Providers’ adoption of in-home monitors is on the rise. The US healthcare system is tasked with keeping up with a 65-and-over population that’s projected to nearly double from 49 million in 2018 to 95 million by 2060, and many doctors are bullish on using remote patient monitoring (RPM) devices as a means of keeping up with patients’ health outside clinical settings: 70% of physicians plan on using RPM tech in the future. Comcast’s device could cater to hospitals that are looking for ways to keep track of patients after they’re discharged to keep readmission rates low, which many are racing to do considering Medicare reduces reimbursements for hospitals with excess readmissions, according to the CMS.
Tech giants are hopping on board withinnovativesolutions of their own, but Comcastmight havea unique advantage in its ability to interact with consumers face-to-face. Google and Amazon will likely both slide into the booming home healthcare market by leveraging their smart speakers to target seniors’ health needs: Google invested in Aiva Health, a voice-powered assistant for seniors, in September 2018, for example; and there’s been buzz that Amazon’s building a senior-focused Alexa skill. Apple’s also doubled down on products geared toward seniors: Its Watch can detect heart arrhythmias and falls, for example. But where Comcast may have an edge is in its army of technicians that install traditional Comcast services, per CNBC. It’s possible that Comcast could deploy employees to set up its devices in people’s homes and give consumers guidance on how they work — something its competitors in the space might struggle with. Best Buy’s also using it’s physical footprint to get into the senior home healthcare space, but the electronic retailer hasn’t made any moves to partner with health systems yet.

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