News: Wearable device data separated from clinical care due to structural barriers, survey finds

Consumer-grade healthcare wearables offer real-time health tracking, which can offer providers data to inform clinical decision-making and potentially enhance care outcomes. However, a new study found that structural barriers, including reimbursement pathways and legal concerns, are preventing wearables data from being integrated into clinical care.

According to the survey, most physicians reviewed wearables data at least sometimes. In the United States, 86% of physicians reviewed wearable data sometimes. Most U.S. physicians used wearables to review activity and function metrics (67%), heart physiology (62%), events/alerts (55%), and sleep (54%). In addition, a majority of physicians globally reported a clinical advantage in reviewing wearable data, with 77% of U.S. physicians and 74% of physicians outside the U.S. saying the data can enhance patient care.

The review of wearables data, however, is driven by patients. Physicians from across six countries, including the U.S., reported that patients asked for guidance on wearables data (23%), asked them to review the data (21%), and scheduled a visit because of the data (16%) at least weekly. Additionally, 15% reported that patients asked them to incorporate wearables data into care.

Though physicians do not report to be resistant to using wearables data in clinical activities, the integration of the data remains low. Only 18% of U.S. physicians said that the integration of wearables data into clinical workflows was likely in the next 12 months. And while there is no dedicated payment pathway for reviewing wearables data, about 10% of U.S. physicians use CPT codes for remote patient monitoring using consumer wearables. Notably, physicians who participated in payment pathways reviewed wearable data more often than those who did not.

Concerns about wearables data outweighed interest, with about 43% of U.S. physicians citing medical-legal barriers as major constraints to integrating wearable data, while 33% cited accuracy concerns. Nearly half (44%) of U.S. physicians said regulatory approval was essential for trust in wearable device accuracy.

Editor’s note: To read the full survey, click here. To read additional coverage from TechTarget, click here.