The annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this year is all about wearable technology, which the Consumer Electronics Association says represents a billion-dollar market in America. And as excitement over Apple's smart watch and other innovations brews, there's a lot of talk about the potential of mobile wearables and health-tracking mobile apps to improve consumer health by engaging people in their own health.
However, while mobile tracking and cool-looking health gadgetry holds a lot of promise, can it really make a dent in what physicians must increasingly consider—quality improvement scores? And has the technology evolved enough for providers to incorporate wearables into their care strategy?
The impact on quality of care
The consumer health tech market is growing and this is one of the biggest questions that physicians, who are looking for ways to improve outcomes and provide more value as patient volumes increase and competition heats up, are asking.
But while some of the technology rolled out to younger consumers might be more hype than long-lasting, there is evidence that wearable tracking devices and mobile fitness-tracking apps for smartphones could become an essential part of healthcare delivery.
A November 2014 report from PwC's Health Research Institute revealed that 86% of clinicians believe that over the next five years, mobile apps will become important to patient health management. In 2015, the US Food and Drug Administration is expected to approve a record number of mobile health apps as digital health companies respond to demand for more sophisticated mobile health products, the report noted.
While physicians "haven't been shown the value yet," PwC researcher Will Falk expects the wearable market will be filled with "a lot of experimentation" as it grows.
"I'm not convinced we should try to turn every wellness device into a disease-management tool," Falk told Healthcare Dive. "I don't think my doctor wants to see my [device] data. She may be interested that I'm taking on an exercise program, but looking at the raw data—I don't think that's going to happen."
However, physicians may want to pay closer attention to the newer wearables and health apps that are rolling out—and which ones are beneficial to patients—so they can "prescribe" or recommend them, he adds. As adoption of mobile health technology grows, consistently recommending technology could soon be correlated with better outcomes.
"What I think is changing is the dynamic," says Falk. "We now see physicians recognizing that they can suggest sources of information and applications that may be of interest to patients."