An unusual summer playoff format will once again have NBA superstars competing for their championship rings, but behind the scenes all players entering the Disney World "bubble" will have the option to monitor their via health sensor-laden smart rings, The Athletic reports.

Citing a health-and-safety manual distributed to players by the National Basketball Players Association, the sports publication described a list of precautions involving quarantine, testing, face masks, physical distancing and more.

Among that list was a note that players may choose to wear the Oura smart ring, a consumer device that monitors body temperature, blood-volume pulse, movement and sleep. The wearable feeds all of these readings through an accompanying app that uses artificial intelligence to generate insights and behavior-change suggestions for the user.

Of note, an ESPN writer describing the manual on Twitter stressed that each team's staff would not have full access to the health data collected through the rings. The exception is when the player's vitals register a high "illness probability score" calculated by the health-monitoring platform.

A representative for Oura declined to comment on its role in the league's safety protocols.

In addition to the rings, players will also have the option to wear a "proximity alarm" that's triggered when the wearer spends more than five seconds within six feet of another person wearing the alarm, according to The Athletic. These devices will be mandatory for all team and league staff.

WHY IT MATTERS

The NBA, like many others, is rewriting the rules of its business to mitigate infection risks. While these efforts will be largely dominated by traditional practices such as hand washing or social distancing, the need for unobtrusive health monitoring is an opportunity for wearables and similar digital health tools.

The Oura Ring's health-monitoring features have already been tapped for their potential in spotting early diseases. UC San Francisco kicked off a study in March that reviews Oura Ring user data to "identify patterns that could predict onset, progression, and recovery in future cases of COVID-19," while the West Virginia University Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute announced in late May that it had developed an artificial intelligence platform that uses the smart rings to spot symptoms related to COVID-19 three days prior to onset with 90% accuracy.

THE LARGER TREND

A handful of tech vendors have recently announced new products aimed at preventing workplace COVID-19 spread.

Yesterday Fitbit unveiled a device- and app-driven service called Ready for Work that focuses on daily health check-ins for employees and an analytics dashboard for their employers.

A week prior Zebra Technologies and VitalTech each unveiled digital health efforts featuring employee proximity and contact tracing, and on at-home symptom checking, respectively.

As for Oura, it was only a few months ago that the company announced a $28 million Series B funding round built on the back of 150,000-plus lifetime smart ring sales. The company's device is likely the best known consumer smart ring, having even adorned the finger of Prince Harry. And it has one less competitor to deal with following the recent acquisition and pivot of its fellow smart ring-maker Motiv.

Yesterday morning Doximity, a self-described social network for doctors, announced that it purchased healthcare-staffing firm THMED. 

Following the acquisition, THMED will be changing its name to Curative and will be focusing on personalized medical-staffing searches. Specifically, it will be focusing on connecting medical groups and healthcare facilities to clinicians and will be “powered by” Doximity. 

As part of yesterday’s news, Doximity announced that Jeff Bowling, former CEO of the Delta Companies, will be the next CEO of Curative.

“Most staffing firms have a database; we have access to a living, breathing network of physicians,” Bowling said in a statement. “Now, with the creation of Curative and the power of Doximity, hospitals and medical practices have access to the largest network of physicians. I’m here because this is different; 100% unique in staffing. Every CEO dreams of leading an organization with a true differentiator, and we have a clear one here.”

WHY IT MATTERS

The physician shortage is a well-documented issue in the U.S. In fact, the Association of American Medical Colleges published data predicts a shortage of 122,000 physicians by 2032.

Because Doximity already has a physician network, it is pitching this new deal as a way to tap into that asset for staffing needs. 

THE LARGER TREND 

When it comes to clinician staffing, several companies are looking to go digital. In February Gento, a tech-enabled home-health-staffing company landed $5 million in Series A funding. Additionally Trusted Health raised a $20 million Series A in 2019 to fuel the expansion of its platform for nurse job-hunting support.

But perhaps one of the biggest names in the space is  Nomad Health, maker of an online healthcare job marketplace, which scored $34 million last August through a combination of new equity and debt financing. As a result, the company said it planned on doubling its staff and building out its tech. 

But the coronavirus pandemic has also been a factor in staffing trends and demands, and there are still many unknowns for the future. 

“It’s been a real rollercoaster ride. In the first couple of months of the pandemic, basically mid-march to late April, there was an absolute need for staffing services, especially in the Covid-19 related specialties,” Dr. Alexi Nazem, CEO of Nomad Health, said in an interview last week with MobiHealthNews. “That peak of needs has really tailed off, and that is because most of the case rates have come down across the country, and there is a reduced need for those kinds of specialties. But at the same time, hospitals don’t have those elective procedures or normal care. … What that means is there is a huge decrease in the need for Covid physicians as well as the need and demand for normal positions. So, the staffing industry has contracted in the last few weeks even as we are in this double valley. We are starting to see some signs of recovery back to the normal mean.” 

ON THE RECORD 

“The combination of Doximity and Curative brings together tech and team in a new way that will deliver talent to our healthcare clients quickly and at scale. Also, one of the biggest wins of this deal is Jeff Bowling coming on board as the Curative CEO. Jeff’s future-forward leadership style, the value he places on people, and his record of driving growth is unmatched. His approach aligns perfectly with our culture. Together, we’re thrilled to bring this new healthcare staffing model to market,” Jeff Tangney, CEO and cofounder of Doximity, said in a statement.