Cardiologist says more info needed

Stephen Lam | Reuters

Jeff Williams, Chief Operating Officer of Apple, speaks about the the new Apple Watch Series 4 at an Apple Inc product launch event at the Steve Jobs Theater in Cupertino, California, September 12, 2018.

Apple announced a slew of new health features for its Apple Watch on Wednesday, including an FDA-cleared electrocardiogram sensor that is designed to alert users to potential problems with their heart so they get to a doctor in time.

But cardiologists aren’t yet convinced that it will be a net positive for their patients. The device could save lives — and already is — but it also comes with a set of risks.

For starters, doctors could be overwhelmed by healthy patients with Apple Watches rushing to the emergency room with inaccurate results. Or worse still, some patients might not go to the doctor if they think their Apple Watch is monitoring them when it isn’t.

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“It can be game-changing for heart health if it is accurate” says Patricia K. Nguyen, assistant professor of medicine in the cardiovascular division at Stanford.

But Nguyen told CNBC she needs to know a lot more about how the technology works before making that assessment. She told me there are four key things she’d need to see to get comfortable recommending it to patients.