NACSA

Healthcare Wearables – Revolution or Hype?

Some said that wearable devices are going to transform the medical care industry in unimagined ways, turning science fiction in reality.

–   ABI Research (Allied Business Intelligence Inc) has projected that by 2016, wearable wireless medical device sales will reach more than 100 million devices annually.

–   Senior analyst at IMS Research said that the market for wearable technologies in healthcare “is projected to exceed $2.9 billion in 2016, accounting for at least half of all wearable technology sales.”

Others said that healthcare wearables are overly hyped, and will eventually face their reality checks.

–   Juniper Research over in the UK was putting out a report forecasting that fitness devices, not true health monitors would “dominate the wearables market” worldwide until at least 2018;

–   According to Juniper Research: “Counting steps is all very well, but will not keep consumers interested unless that information can be contextualized and made useful for them”;

–   Surveys have shown that half who use mobile fitness trackers to keep tabs on their workouts or diets stop using the programs within six months;

–   Even industry insider, like Dr. Matt Patterson, president of AirStrip Technologies, a San Antonio-based maker of mobile patient monitoring software, said “I can tell you right now doctors do not care about your Fitbit data.”