Skip to main content

Fitbit to use Google Cloud to share medical data with doctors

best fitbit deals
Image used with permission by copyright holder

In an effort to significantly raise its profile in the health care field, Fitbit is partnering with Google to improve its ability to share data with medical professionals. The fitness wearable manufacturer will adopt the recently revealed Google Cloud for Healthcare APIs (application programming interfaces), which promises to make sharing fitness and health data safe, easy, and secure.

Recommended Videos

For Fitbit, this marks the company’s much anticipated move into the broader health care market. It will allow customers to quickly and conveniently share health data with doctors and others in the health care community. It’s also a bid to compete with other wearable manufacturers such as Apple, which already has its own Carekit platform in place on the Apple Watch.

Google’s fledgling Cloud Healthcare service will provide Fitbit users with an online repository to store their data and includes integration with electronic medical record systems. A specially developed dashboard interface will allow users to view the data, but more importantly, it will give doctors the ability to remotely monitor a patient’s condition, check in on fitness levels, and request appointments. The dashboard could also be used to answer medical questions and provide suggestions on how to treat a wide array of health issues. Future updates to the Google APIs may even be able to help diagnose serious ailments in their early stages, which could help avoid complications and treatments later on.

Fitbit Versa review
Brenda Stolyar/Digital Trends

By signing on with Google Cloud Healthcare, Fitbit will be able to connect with electronic medical records systems much more quickly than it could if it developed its own platform independently. The Cloud Healthcare APIs are designed to be easy to use and integrate, and Google officials say the system is fully compliant with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (aka HIPAA). This should save Fitbit – and presumably other wearable manufacturers – a lot of time and effort when it comes to enabling their devices to communicate with medical professionals.

It is unclear how long it will be before Fitbit begins integrating Google Cloud into its software and devices. It’s also unknown exactly which current Fitbit wearables will be compatible with the system or if we’ll have to wait until next-generation models are released to gain this new functionality.

Kraig Becker
Kraig Becker is a freelance outdoor writer who loves to hike, camp, mountain bike, trail run, paddle, or just about any other…
GlassesUSA Black Friday Sale: Get 30% off prescription glasses
GlassesUSA frames close up with multiple styles.

Need a new pair of glasses? Want to stock up for your holiday trips before you head to meet up with your relatives? Typically, you'd have to wait until the official Black Friday event, the day after Thanksgiving, or maybe even Cyber Monday, but that's not the case this year. Alongside a variety of the best online glasses deals, GlassesUSA is hosting a huge Black Friday sale early, allowing you to save big on prescription glasses and frames with no waiting necessary. Of course, we always recommend browsing the sale of your own accord to see what's discounted because we couldn't possibly cover everything, nor could we know precisely what you're looking for. That said, we've called out quite a few of the best deals below.

What to shop in the early GlassesUSA Black Friday sale
Rightfully dubbed the Black Friday Early Bird sale, now's an excellent time to save up to 30% on prescription glasses. Moreover, GlassesUSA is truly dedicated to helping you find the perfect pair. Not only are there a ton of brands and styles to choose from, but you'll benefit from free shipping and returns and a money-back guarantee if you're not satisfied. You can even take to find the correct pair for your face. Ray-Ban, Oakley, DKNY, Prada, Ottoto, Muse, they are all here and available to shop, most discounted even. Men's and Women's eyewear are on sale, too, so there's something for everyone.

Read more
The best DNA testing kit Black Friday deals you can shop now
Daughter gifting Ancestry Gift Membership to family

DNA tests are awesome holiday gifts for your family. Together you can all build your family tree and discover your genetic makeup. Unfortunately the tests are pretty expensive, but at least you only need to test once. There are some nice Black Friday deals going on today that will save you a significant amount of money on single tests or bundles. Check out our favorite below, then more more deals worth checking out under that.
The best DNA testing kit Black Friday deal
AncestryDNA Genetic Test Kit -- $59, was $99

The single person AncestryDNA Genetic Test Kit is our pick for the best Black Friday deal already available. The kit normally costs $99, but right now it's down to just $59. That's a nice discount of $30 on one of the best DNA tests available. We're not sure how long this deal will last, so you should grab it soon.

Read more
The 5 best DNA test kits for 2024
We spit in a ton of test tubes to find the best and most unique DNA tests
A 23andme DNA kit.

Despite the fact that tons of competitors have sprung up in recent years, 23AndMe still makes the best DNA test on the market. It's the quickest, it's very comprehensive, and the way the company presents your genetic data is simple and easy to digest. However, depending on what kind of information you're looking for, there are other, more specialized DNA tests that might be better suited for you. Whether it's ancestry, fitness, disease risk, or something else entirely, there's likely a DNA kit that'll uncover that data.

With the rising popularity of these tests, we decided to take a closer look and see which ones are worth the investment. To do this, we secured a mail-in kit from as many DNA testing services as we could find, then shipped them a spit tube full of our precious genetic code for analysis. After looking through all the data and personally trying all of these services, there were a few that stood out from the pack. Here are our favorites:
The best DNA test kit in 2024

Read more