In Tuesday’s House Energy & Commerce health subcommittee meeting, Secretary Robert Kennedy announced the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) new campaign to “take control of American health.” The public awareness effort will center around wearable health devices—items like portable glucose monitors. While HHS doesn’t plan to share the specific details until next week, the Secretary emphasized the Administration’s desire to look at more creative ways to leverage digital health tools.  

Public health advocates have long recommended tools like glucose monitors, more casually called “wearables,” as a way to empower patients and control costs. During the COVID-19 PHE, scientists began using Apple Watches to detect infections and track their spread. In Tuesday’s hearing, the Secretary shared that HHS is particularly interested in ways to increase access to wearables for a wide range of chronic conditions. On X, he calls tools like fitness watches “a key part” of his mission to Make America Healthy Again. 

While Secretary Kennedy is eager to leverage wearables more broadly, some advocates are concerned about aspects like medical privacy. This May, a coalition of more than 40 patient advocacy groups sent a letter to HHS urging the Secretary to implement “fundamental safeguards” to protect patients’ data, including data from wearable devices. Another concern emerging is around the potential unintended mental health consequences of the added sensors, alarms and alerts that come with many wearables.