Wearables have gone from being a niche to an essential part of modern healthcare and are bringing big benefits to patients and providers. This post will look at how wearables are changing healthcare, the challenges and the future.
A Brief History and Evolution
Wearables started with simple step tracking devices like Fitbit which linked physical activity to health rewards. When the Apple Watch launched in 2015 it was panned for its limited functionality and user interface. But it’s come a long way since then and is now a powerful tool in healthcare especially for cardiac rehab. Now wearables are not just wristbands; they’re embedded in clothing making them perfect for remote care and home healthcare initiatives.
In the early days devices like Fitbit were used to track steps, encourage users to move more and be active. That simple approach to health monitoring took off and soon there was a flood of more advanced wearables. The Apple Watch was panned when it first launched but it set the stage for big advancements in wearable technology. With each new version the Apple Watch added features more relevant to healthcare like heart rate monitoring and ECG. Those features made it a powerful tool for patients and providers, especially for cardiac health.
Wearables embedded in clothing is the next step in this evolution. Smart textiles can monitor heart rate, muscle activity and more without any additional devices. This seamless integration into daily life means patients can monitor their health 24/7 and providers have more data to inform treatment decisions.
The Wearable Market in Healthcare
The global wearable healthcare device market is growing fast and is projected to reach $70 billion by 2028 at a growth rate of over 11%. These devices are broken into two main categories:
Medical-Grade Wearables: These are blood pressure monitors, glucose monitors, heart rate monitors. They go through clinical trials and FDA approval to ensure the data supports clinical decision making. Common use cases are post surgery monitoring and managing chronic conditions like diabetes and hypertension. Medical-grade wearables are highly reliable and provide accurate data that can be critical to making medical decisions. These devices are used in hospitals and other clinical settings to monitor patients in real-time, reducing the need for frequent hospital visits and better management of chronic conditions.
Consumer-Grade Wearables: These are watches, rings and smart clothing. They dominate the market because they’re accessible and self-monitoring health and wellness is on the rise. 5G and smartphone apps have accelerated their adoption. But their accuracy and reliability are inconsistent as they don’t go through the same level of testing as medical-grade devices. Despite these limitations they’ve become super popular because of their convenience and the rise of personal health monitoring. They can track a range of health metrics like steps taken, calories burned and sleep quality making them a tool for healthy living.
Benefits of Wearable Technology in Healthcare
Better Health Monitoring: Wearables track health metrics 24/7, help patients set and achieve health goals. Companion apps provide context, support and a deeper understanding of health conditions. Continuous monitoring can catch health issues early and intervene in time. For example a wearable device that tracks heart rate can alert a patient to irregularities that might be a sign of a serious condition and have them seek medical attention before it gets worse.
Better Patient-Provider Communication: Real-time data from wearables gives providers a complete picture of patient health beyond what’s discussed in appointments. This continuous stream of information leads to better outcomes. Providers can monitor patients remotely and intervene if they see any concerning trends in the data. This is especially useful for chronic conditions where continuous monitoring is key to management.
Remote Patient Monitoring: Devices like the Apple Watch with apps like Apple Health do remote patient monitoring. Perfect for chronic disease management and post surgery recovery, these devices allow patients to stay in touch with their healthcare providers without the need for frequent office visits. Remote monitoring also reduces the burden on healthcare facilities and frees up resources for other patients.
Affordable Wearable Technology Revolutionizes Heart Health Detection
Atrial fibrillation is a silent threat. When the heart’s chambers lose their rhythm, blood can pool and form clots. This condition accounts for a quarter of the more than 100,000 strokes in Britain each year. Properly treating the arrhythmia could prevent most of these strokes, but detection is crucial. Conventional tests are expensive and frequently inaccurate. However, Apple Watches, and soon Fitbits, provide a much more affordable and accurate way to detect atrial fibrillation, potentially saving numerous lives.
Challenges to Wearable Technology
Despite the many benefits wearable technology in healthcare comes with several challenges:
Data Management: The amount of data from wearables is overwhelming for healthcare providers. Managing and interpreting that data requires advanced analytics and lots of computing power. Often this means a move to cloud-based electronic health records (EHRs). Cloud-based systems can handle large amounts of data and provide the computational power to analyze it. But this transition can be expensive and time consuming for healthcare organizations.
Integration Issues: The many consumer grade devices and their APIs make it hard for healthcare organizations to manage integrations with clinical systems. Each device has its own data formats and communication protocols making it difficult to integrate them into one system. This can lead to data silos and make it harder to get meaningful insights from the data.
Security: Data security and device identity at the point of care is critical. As the number of devices grows so do the security risks. Ensuring data from wearables is secure and devices are properly authenticated is key to patient privacy. Healthcare organizations must implement robust security measures to prevent data breaches and unauthorized access.
Future Directions and Recommendations
To overcome these and get the most out of wearables:
Context-Based Data Quality Standards: Different standards for fitness tracking, remote monitoring and diagnostics to ensure data is accurate. Implementing context specific standards will ensure data from wearables is reliable and good for its intended use. For example fitness tracking data doesn’t need to be as precise as medical diagnostics data but it should be accurate enough to inform health and wellness decisions.
Interoperable Data: Standardizing data formats across devices from different manufacturers makes integration and comparison easier. Interoperability is essential for a seamless healthcare system where data from various devices can be combined and analyzed. Standardized formats can also allow for universal APIs, helping healthcare providers integrate wearables into their systems.
Access to Data and Analytics Tools: Reduce barriers to data access and analysis to drive long term adoption and effectiveness. Give healthcare providers easy access to data and advanced analytics tools so they can make better use of the data from wearables. This will lead to more accurate diagnoses, more personalized treatment plans and better patient outcomes.
Broader User Base: Promote wearables beyond health monitoring to general wellness to increase adoption especially among the populations that need it most. Expanding wearables to general wellness applications will increase adoption rates especially among the populations that will benefit the most from continuous health monitoring. For example promoting wearables as tools for stress management or mental health monitoring will attract a broader audience. To learn more about how wearable technology can be a tool in mental health, check out this blog post: Top Wearable Tech for Mental Health 2024
Healthcare Inequities
Wearables can also address healthcare inequities. For example in maternity care where many cases of morbidity and mortality are preventable wearables can provide timely monitoring and intervention. Wearable devices can track vital signs and other health metrics in pregnant women, alerting healthcare providers to potential issues before they become serious. This will reduce maternal and infant mortality and improve overall outcomes.
Wearables can also help increase participation in clinical trials by including populations that are traditionally underrepresented in research. By making it easier for people to participate in trials from the comfort of their own homes wearables can ensure research findings are more representative of the general population. This will lead to more effective treatments and interventions for a broader population.
Conclusion
Wearables are at the forefront of a healthcare revolution, offering unprecedented opportunities for patient care and health management. But to get the most out of it we need to address the big issues in data management, integration and security. As we move forward wearables and AI will be the key to healthcare delivery.
AI can analyze the data from wearables to spot trends and patterns we can’t see. The integration of artificial intelligence with wearable technology has the potential to revolutionize healthcare by providing more accurate and personalized care. AI can help analyze the vast amounts of data generated by wearables, identifying trends and patterns that might not be immediately apparent to human observers. This can lead to earlier detection of health issues, more precise treatment plans, and better overall outcomes for patients.
Sources:
https://healthtechmagazine.net/article/2024/03/trends-wearable-technology-for-healthcare-perfcon
MarketsandMarkets. (n.d.). Global Wearable Healthcare Devices Market Analysis.
MultiCare Health System. (n.d.). Use Cases of Wearable Technology in Healthcare.
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. (n.d.). Acute Hospital Care at Home Program.
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