New technology and concepts are constantly emerging in the healthcare industry – keeping clinicians on their toes when new solutions that bring promise of improving patient outcomes and enhancing clinical workflow emerge onto the scene. One of these newer technologies that continues to peak the industry’s interest is clinical wearables. Consumer wearable devices have already begun to reshape our general experience by putting people in the driver seat and back in charge of their healthcare – and now the healthcare industry has not only begun to see the same potential with clinical wearables, but they are becoming more widely adopted and sought after to address real concerns, like providing increased mobility for patients and decreasing costs for healthcare systems.
The healthcare industry has made leaps and bounds to bring widespread adoption to medical grade wearables since they entered the market just a few years ago. While clinical wearables have already made their mark in healthcare, vendors cannot stay stagnant, as the market has matured immensely and quickly. To continue growth and adoption, while also addressing the quadruple aim of patient and physician experience, outcomes and cost, medical grade wearables must become holistic solutions, improve on design and fit into clinicians’ current workflow to remain effective and successful in a maturing market.
Identifying the key contributors to market success As the industry shifts to a value-based care model with more connectivity capabilities, clinicians are getting more pressure to improve patient outcomes while lowering associated costs – and technology like wearables can help address these pain points. But in a crowded, ever-changing market, wearables must have a holistic approach and feel. Instead of one-off projects or standalone devices that only address specific areas, like tracking sleep or heart rate, clinicians need more comprehensive solutions that can provide them with insightful, actionable patient data. Wearables need to have the capability to be inclusive during the whole process of patient monitoring, from assisting with the detection of health issues to identifying the right interventions for clinicians. With the ability to efficiently and effectively monitor patients, these solutions must be comprehensive to include not only the sensors and devices, but also algorithms and analytics that integrate with other devices and systems.
