Samsung Acquires Xealth, Expands Footprint in Digital Health

Samsung Electronics has signed an agreement to acquire Xealth, a digital health platform company, in a move that significantly bolsters the South Korean tech giant's presence in the healthcare sector. The acquisition, expected to close this year, aims to integrate consumer health data from wearables more seamlessly into clinical workflows and electronic medical records.

Strategic Expansion into Healthcare

Samsung's purchase of Xealth, a Providence spinoff founded in 2017, aligns with the company's broader vision to unify fragmented health information and bridge the gap between wellness and medical care. The deal gives Samsung direct access to Xealth's network of more than 500 U.S. hospitals and partnerships with over 70 digital health firms.

"The synergy between Samsung's advanced wearable technology and Xealth's digital health platform can create a link between home health monitoring and clinical decision-making through enhancements to Xealth's platform, with the provider-patient relationship at the center of that effort," Samsung stated in a press release.

Xealth's Role in Clinical Integration

Xealth's platform enables health systems to deploy, integrate, and manage digital health tools, allowing providers to prescribe and monitor digital health content, apps, and services as easily as medications. The company works with major health systems including Advocate Health, Banner Health, and the Cleveland Clinic.

Mike McSherry, CEO of Xealth, who will remain in his position, emphasized the potential of this acquisition: "Customer health data from wearables can fill in context that is missing to hospitals and bring more data analysis possibilities that were not available just with clinical records."

Implications for Wearable Technology in Healthcare

Samsung's Galaxy Watch line has already received FDA clearance for detecting irregular heart rhythms and signs of sleep apnea. The acquisition of Xealth is expected to accelerate the integration of such consumer wellness products into clinical care.

This move comes as wearable technology gains traction in healthcare. According to a 2023 Rock Health Digital Health Consumer Adoption Survey, about 44% of U.S. adults own wearable health tracking devices. However, integrating this data into clinical care has been challenging.

McSherry noted, "We're working with several hospital systems to introduce some of Samsung's wearable devices into clinical care protocols, things like their Afib detection and sleep apnea detection and hospital systems validating data that is valuable to remotely monitor using these more lightweight wearable sensors than the traditional heavier diagnostic devices."