Hospitals, clinics may be ready to adopt wearable tech
ADVANCES IN WEARABLE TECHNOLOGY are opening the door for a new generation of disease treatments that leverage remote monitoring and therapeutics delivered via devices worn on the body.
Wearable devices and sensors, also known as wearables, are a growing area of focus for healthcare organizations and technology companies alike.
In the past three months alone Amazon has released plans to distribute its new health tracking wristband to patients at Sharp Health
Care; Fitbit—awaiting regulatory approval for an acquisition by Google—earned Food and
Drug Administration clearance for an electrocardiogram app; and Apple kicked off research using the Apple Watch to study asthma, heart failure and respiratory conditions.
The FDA, which for years has been working to develop new regulatory models for digital health separate from traditional medical devices, in September launched the Digital Health Center of Excellence to coordinate those efforts.
But as the technology offerings grow, hospitals and health systems are still figuring out the best way to integrate wearables into care delivery, if at all. “Wearable adoption for chronic care management, for continuous monitoring (and) for discharge … remains low,” at least before the pandemic began, said Arielle Trzcinski, a senior analyst at market research firm Forrester.
It’s yet to be seen whether increased remote monitoring practices adopted during the pandemic, such as using wearables, are sustained.
Some may be hurting health long term. Experts have raised concerns about whether devices developed as consumer fitness trackers provide data as accurate as traditional medical
devices, and have questioned whether the often costly devices will widen health disparities if not deployed in an accessible way or subsidized by a provider or insurer.
There’s a “need to continue to grow clinical evidence,” said Brian Kalis, managing director of digital health at consulting firm Accenture. But generally, growing comfort with wearables and evolving regulatory models are pushing more widespread adoption, he said. Anthem is one of the healthcare organizations that has partnered with Apple. Along with the University of California at Irvine, they are recruiting volunteers for a randomized, controlled trial to assess whether tracking heart rate, blood oxygen, sleep patterns and other characteristics with the Apple Watch and Apple’s sleep monitoring device Beddit will help members manage their asthma and decrease emergency department utilization. Depending on the trial’s results, Anthem may integrate digital tools for asthma management into its programs long term, said Dr. Warris Bokhari, vice president of digital care delivery and leader of Anthem’s work on the study. Many healthcare organizations see potential in wearable therapeutics designed specifically for medicine, too. Snapshots of health systems integrating wearables into care for cardiac health, diabetes and migraines follow.