Healthcare spending on wearables is expected to reach $60 billion by 2023 as the technology becomes more popular within the medical industry, according to a recent report by Juniper Research.
By 2023, wearable technology like health trackers and remote patient monitoring devices will reach $20 billion annually, while assistive hearables—or connected hearing aids through healthcare providers—will generate $40 billion in revenue by 2022, the report predicted.
The market expectations are on target with a survey that found 87 percent of 4,000 American adults used at least one digital tool—such as an app or wearable device—to monitor their health in 2017. In 2015, that figure was 80 percent.
The report also suggested medical practitioners and regulators will become more confident in AI-enabled software analytics’ ability to accurately identify a patient’s risk of their condition worsening, which could lead to an increase of using wearables in patient treatment plans.
Due to the success, the report predicted revenue from selling data from the devices will reach $855 million by 2023, prompting a warning about data privacy and consent challenges with device manufacturers.
“It is vital that patients are made aware of how their personal data will be used,” Michael Larner, report author and independent market analyst, said in a statement. “If not, making wearables ‘must have’ to provide personalised care or receive medical insurance risks a backlash from patients and heightened regulatory scrutiny; stalling the effectiveness of remote monitoring.”
Danielle covers Clinical Innovation & Technology as a senior news writer for TriMed Media. Previously, she worked as a news reporter in northeast Missouri and earned a journalism degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She's also a huge fan of the Chicago Cubs, Bears and Bulls.