One of the oldest medical instruments is getting a major technological makeover.
The Food and Drug Administration approved a next generation digital stethoscope that can wirelessly stream heart sounds to a smartphone. The stethoscope made by Eko Devices is also the first to integrate heart sounds directly with a patient’s electronic health record, the company said Wednesday.
The small startup said a doctor can save a patient’s heart sound waveform and can collaborate with a cardiologist for a second opinion.
Electronic stethoscopes aren’t new, but this is the first one to incorporate the heart sounds with a smartphone app or with the patient’s electronic records.
The FDA’s approval comes as the federal government’s efforts to push doctors and hospitals to adopt electronic records have faced significant obstacles.
Doctors and hospitals have criticized a federal program that doles out $30 billion in incentives for ditching paper and moving to electronic records.
A 2014 report to Congress from the Obama administration found that physicians who adopted electronic records are spending less time with patients and must pay for and maintain costly systems.
