On today's episode, we discuss how wearable tech devices will shake up healthcare, which features will make health wearables a must-have, and how Amazon and Apple will continue to disrupt the industry. "In Other News," we talk about why digital pharmacies are getting in trouble and what we should make of telehealth companies slowing down. Tune in to the discussion with our analysts Lisa Phillips and Rajiv Leventhal.

Despite a supply chain crunch, Apple maintained its dominance in wearables shipments during Q4’21. We detail how Samsung and Fitbit could close the market gap.

Oura Ring Gen 3 hit the market—we stack it up against Fitbit Versa 3: We tried it and think it needs better software and more features to compete against popular health-tracking wearables.

That means focusing on devices that work in the home, like smart toilets and voice assistants, or unobtrusive objects, like smart clothing and wearables, that are easy to assemble, understand, and ultimately use. One in 5 patients said their medically prescribed wearable device was hard to use, in a January 2022 survey by Software Advice.

An app’s value can also be enhanced by syncing it up with wearables and condition-specific medical devices, such as smartwatches and glucose meters, respectively. If mHealth apps can automatically sync with apps on wearables, the user experience will likely improve compared with a process that requires users to manually sync the data.

These respondents have good reason to be skeptical, as the devices entering the consumer market often lack the regulatory oversight and systems that medical wearables have. Popular and Emerging RPM Devices. There are a variety of wearables available to consumers besides those from Apple, Samsung, Fitbit, and Amazon. Internet-Connected Versions of Medical Devices.

According to Deloitte’s “Connectivity & Mobile Trends 2021” survey, some 39% of people in the US own a wearable device such as a smartwatch or health and fitness tracker, but only about 40% of those users say they are very or somewhat concerned about the privacy of the data that is collected by the companies behind the wearable device and the supporting apps. A little education changes the equation.

Providers often use IoT sensors like wearables to monitor their patients remotely; some common types include sensors that gauge temperature, measure vibrations, record pulse, monitor blood oxygen levels, or use cameras to detect patient falls.

What’s next for smartwatch vendors lagging behind Apple? Healthcare consumers are worried about privacy—a factor Apple competitors could take into account more this year to prop up the value of their wearables in the eyes of potential customers. Read more about smartwatches and supply chains.

Meanwhile, clinicians are mainstream consumer wearables, clinicians are hesitant to mainstream wearable data to inform their decision-making. Trendspotting: We’ve entered the stage of digital health transformation where if you’re a digital health company, RPM is more of a need-to-have.

However, a lot of the fitness data in these apps is difficult for users to export or encode into fitness tracking apps or wearables. Meta says that this fitness data will become syncable to the Oculus Mobile app on iOS and to the Apple Health App. "This means all your exercise stats, including your activities both in and out of VR, can be tracked and available in one place,” Meta said in a blog post.

KEY STAT: Consumer adoption of wearables in the US will keep growing, across all generations, reaching 88.3 million wearable users in 2025. Introduction. The US healthcare system will never recover from COVID-19. The changes wrought by the pandemic’s several surges across the US are becoming permanent, opening new avenues for patients to access care.

For example, connected RPM devices like noninvasive sensors and medical grade smartwatches can help provide consistent health data and insights to nursing home staff. In turn, that can be used to provide better quality, timely care.

See which health stats wearable users track