In a newly pushed update to S Health, Samsung is adding more features to its service and changing the name of its app to Samsung Health. In addition to tracking workouts, logging food, and monitoring sleep, users can now also signup for American Well’s online doctor visits through the Samsung Health experience. Samsung announced the telemedicine integration, along with the app’s name change to Samsung Health when it debuted the Galaxy S8, and now owners of current generation Samsung smartphones will be able to schedule virtual doctor visits. American Well bills its service as the most popular platform for virtual doctor visits, and Samsung Health owners will be able to see a doctor online 24/7. Unlike scheduling a visit with your regular physician, these doctors don’t require an appointment, and visits cost $59 or less. If you have health insurance, all or part of that fee may be covered by your medical plan.
To utilize the telemedicine feature to schedule a video consultation with a board-certified doctor, you’ll want to go over to the Experts tab at the top of your Samsung Health app. There, you’ll be able to enroll and save your information, which you’ll be able to access for future visits, choose an available doctor from a list and visit your doctor via video chat using your phone’s camera. You’ll have to grant the app permission to access your phone’s hardware features, like the camera and microphone, for the service to work. In addition to Samsung smartphones, owners of other Android devices will also be able to download the Samsung Health app, which allows you to use Samsung’s Gear wearables and track your fitness data without having to own a Samsung Galaxy phone. However, if you’re not on a Samsung phone, you won’t see the American Well integration or the Experts tab up top.
Compared to competing fitness hubs, like Google Fit, Huawei Health, LG Health and even Apple’s Health app for iPhone, Samsung appears to be the first to integrate virtual doctor visits into its app. Prior to adding American Well’s services Samsung allowed users to integrate Your.MD Beta with its service for self diagnosis based on symptoms, which works in a similar way to WebMD. However, unlike Your.MD Beta, which requires a separate download, American Well is more tightly integrated into Samsung Health. In addition to the new telemedicine feature, Samsung notes that it has now reclassified the activity trackers the app supports into six main categories under the Accessories section. ACCU-CHEK devices are now supported inside the Samsung Health app. Additionally, you can also add a custom pace-setter to help you achieve your performance goals within the Samsung Health app.