Health IT, Hospitals, Startups

Report: Promise of wearable health devices hinges on turning data into insight

The rate of adoption for wearable health devices will likely increase, but only if companies […]

The rate of adoption for wearable health devices will likely increase, but only if companies actively engage consumers, turn data into insight and focus on actually improving consumer health, according to a new study from PwC.

Before any promise can be realized, health wearables “will need to provide more than just data,” the study said. “Analysis that provides insights or changes behavior will be key to winning over consumers and their physicians and other healthcare providers.

Investments in the software side of this emerging industry will be as important as hardware,” the study continued.

The study, Health Wearables: Early Days, is part of a much broader study, The Wearable Future, looking at wearable technology across multiple industries, from retail to entertainment to media. Overall, the rate of adoption for wearable technology is already on par with that of mobile tablet owners in 2012, at 20 percent, according to the report.

But within the healthcare wearable space, a host of practical challenges remain – from design, ease of use and effectiveness, privacy and cost – yet interest among consumers is high, according to the study.

“For wearables to help shape the new health economy, next generation devices will need to be interoperable, integrated, engaging, social and outcomes-driven,” Vaughn Kauffman, principal of PwC Health Industries, said in a statement. “Wearable data can be used by insurers and employers to better manage health, wellness and healthcare costs, by pharmaceutical and life sciences companies to run more robust clinical trials, and by healthcare providers to capture data to support outcomes-based reimbursement. But it will be critical to address the consumer concerns that we’ve identified, such as cost, privacy, and ease of use.”

Investor interest is significant. By mid-2014, of the $2.3 billion in venture capital invested into digital health startups, more than $200 million went toward wearables, the report said. And by the end of this year, wearable companies will have shipped a projected 7.6 million devices just in the U.S. – an increase of nearly 200 percent over the prior year.

Nevertheless, “consumers have not yet embraced wearable health technology in large numbers,” the report notes. Among other reasons, this space in healthcare is essentially in its infancy.

“As wearable technology becomes cheaper and more sophisticated, and data quality improves, these devices and their associated apps will become a part of consumers’ lives and the health ecosystem,” the report states.

Cost is a key part of that equation – by and large, consumers aren’t interesting in shelling out huge piles of cash for health wearables. Instead, more are interested in having an employer-or-insurance-sponsored device, especially if it meant improved health results translated to lower insurance premiums.

According to the report, “68 percent of consumers would wear employer-provided wearables streaming anonymous data to an information pool in exchange for break on their insurance premiums. Moreover, consumers are more willing to try wearable technology provided by their primary care doctor’s office than they are from any other brand or category.”

Another 80 percent of consumers said an important benefit of wearable technology is the potential to make healthcare more convenient, meaning there is strong interest amid the skepticism that companies can overcome if they can create products geared toward both users and healthcare providers, the report said.

Privacy and data protection also rank high among consumer concerns – 43 percent don’t feel comfortable sharing health information with friends or family. But consumers do trust their physicians with the health data, meaning there is opportunity for healthcare organizations.

“Physicians already have the trust of consumers, and healthcare organizations have expertise in protecting personal health information. Consumers will want to see those high standards applied to health wearables data, especially as they become integrated into electronic medical records,” the report said.”

Additionally, makers of any wearable health device need to be “crystal clear” with their privacy policies, although the consumer will likewise have to take an active role in understanding privacy implications.

“As platforms multiply and integrate with each other, privacy concerns become more complex. Consumers may wind up choosing several devices and many apps … Companies such as insurers or health systems curating apps will need to evaluate the privacy policies before recommending them,” the report said.

 

 

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