3 Technologies Come Together for the Ultimate Personal Heart Health Solution
If you have a family history of heart disease or are at risk of any heart-related issues such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol or diabetes, then you already know you should be tracking your blood pressure.But what does that really mean? Sure, you can use a home blood pressure monitor to take a reading one or more times a day and jot the results down on a piece of paper or in an excel spreadsheet. But that’s pretty inefficient and it doesn’t give you any understanding of how you are doing or develop a long term healthy habit.However, tracking your blood pressure and risk of heart disease just got a lot easier with the heart health trifecta of the iPhone, Apple Watch and Hello Heart.It’s so easy, there’s no reason to not take advantage!
Hello Heart = your free heart health app
Hello Heart is all about empowering you to take charge of your own health. The app was created specifically to help you compile all your health information and have it in one place. With this vibrant and user-friendly app, you’ll be able to pull data from your clinic or hospital visits, as well as input your own new data from you home blood pressure monitor.Think about that for a moment – with Hello Heart, you’re going to be part of the health conversation with your doctor. Going to the doctor should not just be a one-way street where your doctor gives you instructions that you follow—it should be an opportunity for you to be involved with your health, become more educated, ask questions, and engage with the future of your own body.
Hello Heart offers you that in one, easy-to-use app.What’s especially great about an app-based health program is that you can take your health tracking and records anywhere with you. Your body is everywhere you are, why can’t your own medical data travel with you as well?
iPhone = secure technology at your fingertips
There’s a reason why there are so many iPhone users—everything is at the tip of your fingers!Having an iPhone—just a smartphone, really—makes it really easy to just do everything at the moment it comes to your mind, whether that’s going to Urban Dictionary to figure out what HYFR means or checking the location of that meeting place again. You do much on your phone, and you’re already thinking about your health—why not let your phone help you do that too? All it takes is a swipe and a few typed digits and you’re good to go in under a minute.With an iPhone 5S or 6 you can just completely skip the swipe and password typing all together with the new Touch ID feature!
Touch ID enables secure biometric login
In the case you haven’t already used TouchID, it allows you to bypass swiping the screen and typing in your passcode. Instead you press a finger onto the iPhone’s home button and it automatically identifies your unique fingerprint and unlocks the phone and the Hello Heart app. If you forget passwords during emergencies or if you are just looking for convenience, Touch ID is a great alternative to a standard password. No once can "guess" your fingerprint. With just three taps you can log in to assess your medical records. Touch once with Touch ID to unlock your iPhone. Tap the Hello Heart App. Then use Touch ID to securely start using Hello Heart. Only three taps, no typing a passcode.
With this kind of biometric security, the iPhone is secure enough that you can confidently keep your personal health information on your mobile device. When your phone is locked, all of your heart health and personal medical data in Hello Heart is encrypted and HIPPA compliant. Using a secure passcode or Touch ID, you never risk your potentially sensitive information. Many people already keep their banking accounts connected to their mobile devices, there’s no reason to not take the advantage of the security and mobility of an iPhone and not apply it to health.
Apple Watch = convenience and intimacy at its best
If you’re one of those lucky folks who has already gotten your hands on an Apple Watch (or rather, have an Apple Watch around your wrist), then you have an even more compelling and personal way to take control of your health! Not only is this Apple Watch more mobile and personal than your iPhone, but it’s built to allow for hands-free operation!
The dictation feature on the Watch—which you may commonly already know as Siri, is especially relevant to this point. Using dictation, you just talk to your Watch and it does what you need it to do. Say you’re at the gym and the blood pressure monitoring device there measures your blood pressure as 135/90. You wouldn’t even have to reach into your pocket! You’d just say something like, “Hello Heart. My BP is 135 over 90,” and you’re done!The watch also offers subtle haptic notifications that are great for reminding you when it is time to take your BP. The alerts are private and no one else needs to know you were notified.The whole is greater than the sum of the partsEach of these three technologies is good on its own: Hello Heart is your personal heart health tracker, your iPhone is your second brain, and your Apple Watch is your priorities right on your wrist.But we’ve all heard how the whole can be greater than the sum of the parts. That is true for Hello Heart, iPhone and Apple Watch. The synergy of the unique qualities of each of these devices with Hello Heart can only facilitate your own personal investment and involvement in your health, in your life, in your future!So what are you waiting for?
1. Gazit T, Gutman M, Beatty AL. Assessment of Hypertension Control Among Adults Participating in a Mobile Technology Blood Pressure Self-management Program. JAMA Netw Open. 2021;4(10):e2127008, https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.27008. Accessed October 19, 2022. (Some study authors are employed by Hello Heart. Because of the observational nature of the study, causal conclusions cannot be made. See additional important study limitations in the publication. This study showed that 108 participants with baseline blood pressure over 140/90 who had been enrolled in the program for 3 years and had application activity during weeks 148-163 were able to reduce their blood pressure by 21 mmHg using the Hello Heart program.) (2) Livongo Health, Inc. Form S-1 Registration Statement. https:/www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1639225/000119312519185159/d731249ds1.htm. Published June 28, 2019. Accessed October 19, 2022. (In a pilot study that lasted six weeks, individuals starting with a blood pressure of greater than 140/90 mmHg, on average, had a 10 mmHG reduction.) NOTE: This comparison is not based on a head-to-head study, and the difference in results may be due in part to different study protocols.
2. Validation Institute. 2021 Validation Report (Valid Through October 2022). https://validationinstitute.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Hello_Heart-Savings-2021- Final.pdf. Published October 2021. Accessed October 19, 2022. (This analysis was commissioned by Hello Heart, which provided a summary report of self-fundedemployer client medical claims data for 203 Hello Heart users and 200 non-users from 2017-2020. Findings have not been subjected to peer review.)