• Wearable technology in healthcare includes electronic devices that consumers can wear, like Fitbits and smartwatches, and are designed to collect the data of users’ personal health and exercise.
  • Growing demand for wearables has generated a booming market, and now insurers and companies are seeing how supplying wearable health technology to their consumers and employees is beneficial. 
  • Do you work in the Healthcare industry? Insider Intelligence publishes hundreds of insights, charts, and forecasts on the Digital Health industry with the Digital Health Briefing. You can learn more about subscribing here.

Wearable fitness technology has carved out such as significant space for itself in the healthcare industry, that devices such as FitBits and smartwatches are now viewed as mainstream. The use of wearable technology has more than tripled in the last four years, in accordance with consumers’ increased interest in monitoring their own health and vital signs.

Demand for wearables is expected to continue to rise in the next few years, as consumers exhibit interest in sharing their health data with providers and insurers. The US Smart wearable user market is poised to grow 25.5% YoY in 2023, up from 23.3% YoY growth in 2021, per an October 2021 forecast by Insider Intelligence.  

More than a quarter of the US population will use wearable devices in 2023. - Insider Intelligence
More than a quarter of the US population will use wearable devices in 2023. Insider Intelligence

What is wearable healthcare technology?

Wearable technology is any type of electronic device designed to be worn on a user’s body, including Fitbits and smartwatches. Wearable devices in healthcare are designed to collect the data of users’ personal health and exercise, and can even send a patient’s health information to a doctor or other healthcare professional in real-time.

Examples of Wearable Devices in Healthcare

The advancement of wearable technology and growing demand from consumers to take control of their own health has influenced the medical industry, including insurers, providers, and technology companies, to develop more wearable devices such as Fitbits, smartwatches, and wearable monitors.   

Wearable Fitness Trackers

Wearable fitness trackers are wristbands equipped with sensors to keep track of the user’s physical activity and heart rate. While they are some of the simplest and most original forms of wearable technology, they having staying power, as they sync conveniently to smartphone apps to provide users with invaluable health and fitness recommendations.

The FitBit Flex was an early, popular option for wearable technology consumers. Users were attracted to its sleek look and ability to track their step progress throughout the day with the device’s five indicator lights. Its most recent iteration, the Fitbit Sense 2, offers an array of health tracking features to improve sleep and eliminate, and and battery life that can last a full week. 

Fitbit Sense 2 - Amazon
Fitbit Sense 2 Amazon

Smart Health Watches

Once only used to count steps and tell time, smartwatches have now transformed into clinically viable healthcare tools. Apple launched the Apple Heart Study app in 2017 to monitor users’ heart rhythms and alert those who are experiencing atrial fibrillation.

Like what you’re reading? Click here to learn more about Insider Intelligence’s leading Health research.

The company released its latest two watch iterations in September 2022. Apple’s Series 8 model comes packed with best-in-class health features, including an innovative temperature sensor that enables advanced features for women’s health, and Crash Detection for severe car crashes. The second-generation Apple Watch SE is an excellent budget-conscious alternative to the Series 8, and comes equipped with a faster processor and better battery life than its previous model.

Apple Watch 2nd gen SE 2022 - Antonio Villas-Boas
Apple Watch 2nd gen SE 2022 Antonio Villas-Boas

Smartwatches allow users to perform tasks they normally do on their phones—read notifications, send simple messages, make phone calls—while also offering some of the exercise- and health-tracking benefits of fitness trackers.

Wearable ECG Monitors

Wearable ECG monitors are on the cutting edge of consumer electronics, and what sets these monitors apart from some smartwatches, is their ability to measure electrocardiograms, or ECGs. Business Insider reported on Withings winning best wearable at the 2019 Consumer Electronics Show with their Move ECG product. 

The Move ECG is able to measure an electrocardiogram and send the reading to the user’s doctor, as well as detect atrial fibrillation. It’s also able to track pace, distance, and elevation, as well as automatic tracking for walking, running, swimming, and biking. 

Wearable Blood Pressure Monitors

Omron Healthcare launched HeartGuide in 2019, the first wearable blood pressure monitor. Though it might look like a typical smartwatch, HeartGuide is an oscillometric blood pressure monitor that can measure blood pressure and daily activity—such as steps taken, distance traveled, and calories burned. 

HeartGuide can hold up to 100 readings in memory and all readings can be transferred to a corresponding mobile app, HeartAdvisor, for review, comparison, and treatment optimization. HeartAdvisor users have the ability to store, track, and share their data with their physician while also gaining insights to determine how personal habits affect their blood pressure. 

Biosensors

Biosensors are up and coming wearable medical devices that are radically different from wrist trackers and smartwatches. The Philips’ wearable biosensor is a self-adhesive patch that allows patients to move around while collecting data on their movement, heart rate, respiratory rate, and temperature. 

Research from Augusta University Medical Center showed that this wearable device registered an 89% reduction in patient deterioration into preventable cardiac or respiratory arrest. This demonstrates the ability wearables have to improve patient outcomes and possibly reduce staff workload.

Advances in & future of medical devices 

Advances in & future of medical devices The wearable healthcare technology market is surging, and its maturation will put more wearable technology in the hands of consumers and US businesses. According to Insider Intelligence research, the number of health and fitness app users will grow to 91.3 million through 2023, up from 88.5 million in 2022.

This upward trend in wearable fitness technology will influence the decision of insurers, health providers, and companies to take advantage of the benefits of wearable health monitoring devices. 

Insurers can lessen the rising cost per patient by using wearables as a means of increasing customer life value. Wearable technology incentivizes behavior that reduces hospital visits and readmissions due to poorly managed personal health. In a 2021 CVS Health Care Insights study conducted by Market Measurement, 75% of the 1,000 users who were surveyed agreed that wearables help them engage with their own health.

Companies are also seeing benefits in offering wearable healthcare technology to employees. According to Insider Intelligence, healthier corporate culture is shown to reduce employee turnover. For example, employers who offer five or more well-being ‘best practices’ had an average turnover of 18%, compared to 29% for those that offer two or fewer. 

US consumer use of wearables increased from 9% to 33% in just four years, and this number will continue to grow as wearable technology becomes more widely available. Moreover, device connectivity will expand as more accurate wearable sensors are developed, opening the door for insurers and employers to influence healthy lifestyles and boost profitability.