Why Doctors Shouldn’t Dismiss the Apple Watch’s New ECG App

Apple recently announced a new feature to the Apple Watch: the latest version will have an ECG app that can measure heart rhythms and notify patients about abnormal, and potentially harmful, patterns. Doctors, however, are concerned that the app hasn’t been rigorously tested and could provide unreliable data, creating a false sense of risk among users and leading patients to ask for unnecessary tests.

While these concerns are valid, doctors shouldn’t be too quick to dismiss the app, particularly as it taps into growing consumer enthusiasm for wearable devices that measure health behaviors — and as it has the potential to provide valuable data that benefits the entire health care community.