Amazon is teaming up with Omron Healthcare, which makes blood pressure monitors, as it looks for new ways to bring its voice technology into healthcare.
The move comes as Amazon makes more of a push into health and wellness. CNBC reported in May that Amazon has an Alexa team staffed with more than a dozen people focused on applications ranging from maternity care to chronic disease. In the summer of 2017, the company worked with drugmaker Merck to offer a prize to developers building Alexa skills to help people with diabetes.
Omron’s blood pressure monitor, which sells on Amazon’s marketplace among other channels, can now integrate with the Amazon Alexa voice assistant to help people better manage their disease.
Users set up the system by pairing their Omron cuff to the company’s mobile app. From the app, they can ask Alexa to connect, and then request a reading of their latest blood pressure results or calculate their average readings and compare levels throughout different times of the day.
Patients can also have Alexa remind them to take their blood pressure in case they frequently forget.
Omron Healthcare isn’t the only company selling blood pressure devices on Amazon’s marketplace.
Amazon in October worked with Arcadia Group to offer an exclusive brand of home health products called Choice, which include blood pressure and blood glucose monitors.
