hoop fitness wearable.
Provided by: Oops
Wearable fitness tracker Whoop announced Friday that it is introducing on-demand, in-app access to authorized clinicians for users in the United States.
This new feature comes alongside a suite of health and artificial intelligence-driven features being released globally, allowing users to connect continuous biometric data to medical guidance in real-time.
Many of the new features are included in the membership fee, but live video consultations for U.S. users are available for an additional fee. The company says pricing and details will be announced when that option goes on sale this summer.
“Whoop is about membership, and we take that seriously,” Ed Baker, chief product officer at Whoop, said in a press release. “We’re always thinking about how we can deliver more value to our members, and these upcoming features are some of the most meaningful things we’ve built to date.”
Whoop, which has more than 2.5 million users worldwide, closed a $575 million funding round in March, raising the company’s valuation to $10.1 billion, the company announced.
The company said in a release that the medical consultation begins with a comprehensive evaluation of the data collected by the device, as well as blood tests and medical history when available.
A spokesperson told CNBC that the video consultation feature is designed to complement a user’s existing care and is not meant to replace their primary care physician or emergency services. The company said late Friday that details about prescribing through the service are “not available at this time.”
“As our data and coaching insights become more advanced and personalized, our next step is to give our members a comprehensive understanding of their entire health,” Whoop CEO Will Ahmed told CNBC.
This update also includes a partnership with health records administrator HealthEx. Users can track diagnoses, medications, and treatments directly within the Whoop app and receive personalized AI-powered coaching and proactive check-in reminders.
This comes less than a year after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration sent Whoop a warning letter regarding its Blood Pressure Insights feature. The FDA said Whoop sells unauthorized medical devices intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent disease.
However, new FDA guidance issued in January allows wellness devices to measure blood pressure using optical sensing as long as they do not claim “medical grade” diagnostics.
