The Digital Health Podcast with Fexingo: Wearables, Diagnostics, and Health Software

We all have health data now — smartwatches, HRV scores, sleep stages, step counts. But does any of it actually change what we do? In this episode, we drill into a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association that tracked 2,400 users across four consumer health platforms. The headline number: only 12 percent of users who received a clinically meaningful health insight — like a suspected sign of atrial fibrillation — followed up with a healthcare provider within 30 days. That's a massive gap between data generation and data-informed action. We talk about what the platforms are doing wrong — and what companies like DarioHealth and a startup called PatientPartner are doing differently. If the whole promise of digital health is that more data leads to better decisions, this study suggests that data alone isn't the problem. The problem is the next step: what happens after the watch buzzes.

#HealthData #DigitalHealth #Wearables #Smartwatch #PatientBehavior #HealthInsights #AtrialFibrillation #JAMIA #DarioHealth #PatientPartner #DataToAction #HealthTech #BehavioralScience #Business #Technology #FexingoBusiness #DigitalHealthPodcast #BusinessPodcast

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In this episode of The Digital Health Podcast with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna explore how remote patient monitoring is transforming post-surgery recovery. They focus on the case of Hinge Health, which has expanded from musculoskeletal therapy to surgical recovery, using wearable sensors and a digital platform to track patients' progress after knee and hip replacements. The hosts discuss a recent study showing a 30% reduction in hospital readmissions for patients using Hinge Health's program compared to standard care. Lucas explains the economics: Hinge Health charges employers and health plans a per-member fee, but its value proposition is lower overall healthcare costs. Luna questions whether patients, especially older ones, will adopt the technology. They also touch on competitors like Physitrack and Sword Health, and the regulatory landscape, including FDA clearance for software as a medical device. The episode provides a concrete look at how digital health is moving from wellness adjunct to core clinical tool.

#DigitalHealth #HealthTech #RemotePatientMonitoring #PostSurgery #HingeHealth #Wearables #HealthcareInnovation #HospitalReadmissions #SwordHealth #Physitrack #Business #Technology #Podcast #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast #HealthSoftware #Telemedicine #Recovery

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Prescription digital therapeutics (PDTs) are a new category of software that doctors can prescribe to treat conditions from ADHD to substance use disorder. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore how companies like Akili Interactive and Pear Therapeutics have navigated FDA clearance, insurance reimbursement, and the tricky transition from app store to pharmacy counter. They break down the numbers behind Akili's EndeavorRx — the first FDA-authorized video game for ADHD — and examine why the path from pilot to prescription remains steep. Along the way, they discuss the role of real-world evidence, the challenges of scaling beyond single indications, and what it means for a product to be 'prescribed' in an era when anyone can download a health app. A focused look at where digital therapeutics stand as of mid-2026.

#DigitalTherapeutics #PrescriptionDigitalTherapeutics #AkiliInteractive #PearTherapeutics #EndeavorRx #FDA #ADHD #SubstanceUseDisorder #RealWorldEvidence #Reimbursement #HealthcareInnovation #HealthTech #DigitalHealth #Business #Technology #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast #TheDigitalHealthPodcast

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In this episode of The Digital Health Podcast, Lucas and Luna explore how voice biomarkers are being used to detect early signs of Alzheimer's disease. They dive into a groundbreaking study from the University of California, San Francisco, where researchers analyzed speech patterns from over 200 older adults and found that subtle changes in pitch, pauses, and word fluency can predict cognitive decline with 78% accuracy up to five years before clinical diagnosis. The hosts discuss the technology behind voice analysis, the collaboration with Canary Speech, and the challenges of bringing this tool to primary care settings. They also touch on privacy concerns and the potential for voice-based screening to become a routine part of checkups, similar to blood pressure measurements.

#DigitalHealth #HealthTech #Alzheimers #VoiceBiomarkers #AI #MachineLearning #DementiaDetection #UCSF #CanarySpeech #Wearables #Diagnostics #SpeechAnalysis #CognitiveHealth #EarlyDetection #HealthcareInnovation #Business #Technology #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast

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Nearly every major drug company is now weaving digital tools—wearables, smartphones, and connected sensors—directly into how they test new therapies. In this episode, Lucas and Luna look at why decentralized clinical trials have gone from pandemic workaround to permanent fixture, and what that means for both patients and the business of medicine. They walk through the story of Pfizer's Dora trial in advanced breast cancer, where a smartphone app replaced routine in-person visits for symptom tracking, and how that data is now shaping regulatory conversations at the FDA. The hosts also examine the economics: how virtual trial platforms like Medable and Science 37 have raised hundreds of millions in venture funding, and why the contract research organization business—a $60 billion global industry—is racing to retool. If you're building or investing in digital health, this is a shift you can't ignore.

#DigitalHealth #ClinicalTrials #DecentralizedTrials #Wearables #Pfizer #Medable #Science37 #FDAClinicalTrials #Pharmaceuticals #CRO #RemoteMonitoring #PatientData #VentureCapital #HealthTech #BusinessAndTechnology #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast #TheDigitalHealthPodcast

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Lucas and Luna explore the emerging field of vocal biomarkers for mental health diagnosis. They dive into how AI-powered voice analysis can detect depression, anxiety, and PTSD by picking up subtle acoustic changes. The episode focuses on a real-world study from the University of Southern California where voice samples achieved 85% accuracy in diagnosing PTSD in military veterans. They discuss the underlying technology, the companies leading the way, and the ethical questions around consent and privacy. Lucas explains how vocal biomarkers work — analyzing pitch, tone, cadence, and jitter — and Luna raises concerns about bias and false positives. The conversation also touches on how this tech is being piloted in virtual therapy platforms like Talkspace and Lyra Health, and what it means for the future of mental health screening.

#VocalBiomarkers #MentalHealth #AIHealth #DigitalHealth #VoiceAnalysis #PTSD #Depression #UniversityOfSouthernCalifornia #Talkspace #LyraHealth #HealthTech #Diagnostics #AI #MachineLearning #VirtualTherapy #PrivacyInHealth #BusinessAndTechnology #FexingoBusiness

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Hypertension affects nearly half of US adults, yet most people only get their blood pressure checked during a doctor's visit. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore how wearable blood pressure monitors — from cuff-based devices to optical sensors — are shifting hypertension management from occasional office readings to continuous, real-world data. They examine the technology behind Aktiia's optical blood pressure monitor, which uses photoplethysmography for calibration-free continuous tracking, and compare it to traditional ambulatory monitoring. The hosts discuss the clinical validation process, the FDA's evolving stance on non-invasive blood pressure wearables, and what this means for primary care, remote patient monitoring, and the trillion-dollar cardiovascular disease market. If you're building in digital health or managing a chronic condition yourself, this episode offers a grounded look at which innovations are real and which are still lab projects.

#WearableBloodPressure #Hypertension #Aktiia #DigitalHealth #RemotePatientMonitoring #CardiovascularHealth #FDA #Photoplethysmography #HealthTech #BloodPressureMonitoring #ContinuousMonitoring #Business #Technology #ChronicDiseaseManagement #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast #HealthInnovation #MedTech

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Lucas and Luna explore the emerging field of vocal biomarker technology, where companies like Sonde Health and Vocalis Health analyze subtle changes in voice patterns to screen for conditions ranging from depression to COVID-19 and even Parkinson's disease. They break down how a 20-second voice sample can reveal physiological cues invisible to the naked eye, the regulatory pathway these devices are navigating, and why the concept raises important privacy questions. The hosts discuss a specific pilot program where a health insurer used voice analysis to flag early signs of respiratory infection, and what it would take for this tech to become a routine part of primary care. No hype—just the signal.

#VoiceBiomarkers #DigitalHealth #SondeHealth #VocalisHealth #Wearables #HealthTech #BusinessPodcast #FexingoBusiness #ArtificialIntelligence #RemotePatientMonitoring #PreventiveMedicine #SpeechAnalysis #ParkinsonsDetection #COVIDScreening #MentalHealthTech #HealthDataPrivacy #RegulatoryPathway #PodcastEpisode

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Lucas and Luna explore the messy, high-stakes world of EHR integration for digital health platforms. They focus on a specific case: how a chronic care management startup called Rimidi built a direct bridge into Epic Systems, the dominant EHR used by over 250 million patients in the US. The hosts walk through the technical hurdles, the data-privacy landmines, and the business incentives that make or break these integrations. They discuss Rimidi's decision to embed its hypertension and diabetes workflows directly into the clinician's existing screen rather than creating a separate app — and why that choice matters for adoption. The episode also touches on the broader trend of EHRs becoming platforms, with reference to Apple Health Records and the HL7 FHIR standard. No hype, just the reality of getting software to talk to hospital systems.

#EHRIntegration #DigitalHealth #EpicSystems #Rimidi #HealthTech #PrimaryCare #FHIR #PlatformStrategy #ChronicCare #Interoperability #ClinicalWorkflow #DataPrivacy #AppleHealthRecords #HealthIT #BusinessAndTechnology #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast #PodcastEpisode

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Episode 38 of The Digital Health Podcast explores the quiet rise of smart rings—wearables that pack sensors into a jewelry form factor. Lucas and Luna examine how Oura, Samsung, and startups like Circular are competing to track sleep, heart rate, and temperature without a wristband. They dig into the clinical research backing ring-based sleep staging, why insurers are starting to subsidize them for employee wellness programs, and the privacy trade-offs of always-on biometric data stored in the cloud. The hosts also touch on the latest FDA clearance for an atrial fibrillation detection algorithm in a smart ring, and ask whether rings will eventually make smartwatches redundant for health monitoring. Tune in for a focused look at the smallest device in digital health—and why it might have the biggest impact on preventive care.

#SmartRings #Oura #SamsungGalaxyRing #CircularRing #WearableTech #SleepTracking #HeartRateMonitoring #DigitalHealth #FDA #AtrialFibrillation #EmployeeWellness #HealthTech #Biometrics #Privacy #PreventiveCare #Business #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast

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