Wearable healthcare devices play a massive role in today’s healthcare industry. You’ll be hard-pressed to go anywhere without seeing multiple people wearing smartwatches, personal fitness trackers, etc.
There’s no doubt that the use of wearable technology in healthcare is rising as people become more health-conscious and interested in monitoring their health and habits.
The Power of Wearable Technology in Healthcare
Wearable technology in healthcare includes any device worn on the body and has some type of benefit to its user’s health. From smartwatches to advanced wearable monitors, these wearable devices collect data about your health, exercise habits, and more. Many can even send your health information directly to your healthcare provider in real-time.
Wearable technology in healthcare is an extremely powerful tool for providers and patients:
- It promotes healthy habits. One of the most significant healthcare benefits of wearable technology is that people have access to these devices at all times. Most people take their wearable tech and smartphones everywhere, from work to home, to bed, and even to the bathroom, making wearable technology extremely powerful.
- It’s personal and convenient. Many things that impact patients the most result from the decisions they make every day — conditions like hypertension, heart disease, and diabetes. Wearable healthcare technology can help personalize care and help people track their decisions and set goals, offering convenience where other care plans can’t.
Related: Top Healthcare Innovations of 2023
Providers Are in Favor of Wearable Tech
The majority of providers find wearable healthcare devices helpful for monitoring their patients. They utilize wearables as simple as Fitbits to ones as specialized and advanced as biosensors to track health conditions, monitor vitals, follow patient recovery, analyze sleep patterns, and more.
Physicians also noted that patients with diabetes and cardiac conditions could benefit significantly from wearable technology.
5 Trending Wearable Devices in Healthcare
Wearable technology in healthcare is advancing and growing from more than a consumer standpoint. People are taking more control over their health, influencing the healthcare industry and providers to develop even better wearable tech.
- Smart Health Watches
When smartwatches first made their debut, they couldn’t do much more than count steps and tell time. However, they soon transformed into viable healthcare tools. For example, Apple launched its Heart Study app almost six years ago to monitor an individual’s heart rhythms and alert them when experiencing atrial fibrillation.
Today, the latest iterations come with many useful health features, temperature sensors, and even crash detection.
Besides easy access to your smartphone apps, smart health watches offer the health-tracking and exercise-monitoring benefits of the most advanced fitness trackers.
- Personal Fitness Trackers
Wearable fitness trackers (Like Fitbits) are wristbands with multiple sensors to help track the user’s heart rate, physical activity, sleep patterns, and more. They are one of the original and simplest forms of wearable healthcare technology, but they play an essential role in the sector.
Personal fitness trackers are great for providing users with invaluable health and fitness data and recommendations by conveniently syncing with their smartphones.
It started out with simple technology like seen in the early Fitbit Flex — users loved tracking their steps with a sleek, unobtrusive design.
Today, the more recent iterations, like the Fitbit Sense 2, offer various health-tracking features to track multiple aspects of its user’s health and fitness journey.
Related: Benefits of Mobile Healthcare Technology
- Biosensors
On the other hand, biosensor technology in healthcare is the new, up-and-coming wearable that is significantly different from smartwatches and fitness trackers.
For example, the Philips biosensor is a simple self-adhesive patch that individuals can wear and collect movement, heart rate, temperature, and respiratory rates while going through their day normally.
Not to mention that Augusta University Medical Sensor started using this biosensor in a clinical setting, significantly reducing preventable respiratory and cardiac arrest events. Biosensors healthcare wearables have the potential to reduce staff workload while improving patient outcomes when used in hospital environments.
- Wearable Blood Pressure Monitors
Omron Healthcare — the leading company in consumer blood pressure monitors — recently released its HeartGuide product, a wearable fitness tracker that also accurately monitors blood pressure.
At first glance, it might look like any other smartwatch; however, it monitors blood pressure and daily activities (steps taken, calories burned, distance traveled, etc.).
Plus, it stores the 100 most recent blood pressure readings in its onboard memory and can store all of your readings when paired with the Omron mobile app. This app also allows Omron’s wearable blood pressure monitor users to store, track, and share this information with their doctor and gain insights into how their personal habits affect their blood pressure levels.
- ECG Monitor Wearables
Near the top of cutting-edge consumer electronics are wearable ECG monitors. Their ability to measure electrocardiograms (ECGs) sets them apart from other monitors, like smartwatches and fitness trackers.
One of the top wearable devices in this category is the Move ECG monitor made by Withings. This wearable measures ECGs, detects atrial fibrillation and sends the information it collects directly to the user’s doctor.
In addition, it tracks distance, pace, elevation, and different activities, including running, swimming, biking, and walking — the Move virtually eliminates the need for individuals to pair their ECG monitor with a personal fitness tracker or smartwatch.
Wearable Technology in Healthcare Is Only the First Step
Personal devices that track your health are rising because the interest in self-care and monitoring your lifestyle habits are becoming more popular. And wearable technology isn’t the end game.
There are many ways to manage your health in addition to investing in wearables — like Xcellent Life.
Xcellent Life is a user-friendly app that provides personalized health analytics and insights to individuals, healthcare professionals, insurance companies, and employers.
We use industry-leading healthcare technology to provide you with predictive data to get the most accurate, detailed health information.
Finding the right wellness app doesn’t have to be a challenge — you can improve your quality of life today with the health and wellness app that offers real-time, personalized insights.
Interested in how healthcare technology can help you, your patients, or your organization take control of their health? Schedule a consultation to learn about the most complete digital health platform — Xcellent Life.