Hims & Hers upgrades women's health app with AI, smart scale integration

With digital health options proliferating, concerns around fragmented care are growing. To combat this, digital health companies are working to create a more unified patient experience, with Hims & Hers being the latest to do so. The direct-to-consumer telehealth provider has updated the Hers digital app to support a personalized, continuous care experience for female members. The app includes AI-driven intelligence that tracks progress towards goals and medications, while also supporting nutrition, sleep and lifestyle changes. The AI responses are based on clinical protocols, the press release stated. When needed, the user's healthcare provider and care teams can enter the conversation on the app. For providers, the app provides medical context, medication history and other care details. "It is one continuous conversation instead of a dozen disconnected steps. This is a first for healthcare, and it's how we're making care more proactive, accessible, and trustworthy," said Mo Elshenawy, chief technology officer at Hims & Hers, in the press release. In addition, Hims & Hers is launching the Hers smart scale, which connects to the Hers app and automatically syncs to send weight metrics. The AI and care team can access this data, enabling them to track progress toward weight-loss goals. The smart scale is available to weight loss members at no extra cost. "In weight loss especially, the clinical oversight, lifestyle guidance, and support a woman receives between appointments can matter just as much as the treatment itself," said Jessica Shepherd, M.D., chief medical officer of Hers, in the press release. "This is what care for women should have always looked like." The new app upgrades will first be rolled out to Hers weight-loss members, then to other categories, like menopause and hair regrowth, and Hims members. The launch comes on the heels of the company introducing an AI care agent that delivers personalized insights on users' lab results. Called the Labs AI, the agent is trained to identify patterns across 130-plus biomarker tests. It creates a profile for each user that shows current and historical biomarker values, trends over time and demographic and lifestyle information. In a press release at the time of the Labs AI launch, the company indicated that it is a "preview" of the AI ecosystem it is planning. The company had noted its goal is to build AI features and capabilities into its infrastructure rather than layer them on top. This is an emerging trend among digital health companies as they navigate an increasingly AI-driven market . Last month, Teladoc Health launched a new virtual care model that brings together disparate data sources, solutions and care teams to reduce fragmented care. The model leverages an AI-powered engine that combines a patient's clinical history with claims, pharmacy, EHR, device and other data to enable care teams to identify needs and intervene early. Anuja Vaidya has covered the healthcare industry since 2012. She currently covers healthcare IT and innovation, including artificial intelligence, digital healthcare, EHRs and interoperability.