Wearable technology in healthcare: How recent advances are transforming patient care

• Wearable medical devices are transforming healthcare by enabling continuous monitoring, encouraging patient engagement, and expanding access to remote care
• Devices like continuous glucose monitors and wearable cardiac sensors are already driving more personalized and proactive treatment plans across a wide range of conditions
• While challenges around cost, data integration, and accuracy remain, ongoing research and rapid innovation are making wearable health technology an increasingly essential tool for individual care and population health research

The healthcare industry is undergoing a digital revolution, and wearable technology in healthcare is one of the key innovations leading the charge.¹

From real-time monitoring to proactive disease management, wearable health technologies are transforming how providers and patients interact.² With the global market for wearable healthcare devices projected to reach $USD 69.2 billion by 2028, this trend shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon.^1,3

So, what are the wearable medical devices leading this movement? And why are they proving so beneficial within healthcare?

Wearable devices in healthcare generally fall into two main categories: medical-grade and consumer-grade wearables.¹

As the name suggests, consumer-grade wearable devices — such as Fitbits and Apple Watches — are designed for everyday users to track basic health metrics like sleep patterns and physical activity. While valuable for personal wellness tracking, they typically lack the accuracy required to support clinical decision-making.¹

Medical-grade wearable devices, on the other hand, are developed under regulatory oversight and validated through clinical research to approve their use in delivering patient care. Examples of such devices include:⁴

• Continuous glucose monitors (CGMs)
• Electrocardiogram (ECG) monitors
• Wearable blood pressure devices
• Sweat-monitoring sensors
• Smart hearing aids
• Smart patches (for targeted medication delivery)
• Remote respiratory monitors

These wearable devices are designed to integrate with existing healthcare systems — supporting diagnostic processes, enabling remote monitoring, and enhancing the development of personalized treatment plans.⁴

The adoption of wearable health technology is already delivering a wide range of benefits across the healthcare landscape. For example, wearable health monitoring devices can support:

• Continuous monitoring and real-time data capture: Wearable devices combine real-time monitoring of key physiological signals (such as heart rate, blood pressure or blood glucose levels) and the use of proprietary algorithms to convert raw data into meaningful insights, enabling a range of at-home functions — from monitoring health post-surgery, or assisting self-management of chronic conditions.^1,5

• More empowered patients: While consumer-grade wearables may not offer the same level of accuracy as medical-grade technology, they still allow users to keep on top of their activity levels, sleep patterns, glucose trends, and heart rate — encouraging patients to take ownership of their health and make more informed lifestyle choices.⁶

• Cost efficiency: With the rise of telemedicine, wearable medical technologies enable remote monitoring and reduce the need for in-person visits. This not only lowers overhead costs for providers but also helps alleviate pressure on healthcare systems and streamlines diagnostic processes.⁷

Wearable technology is already transforming the healthcare industry for the better — not only improving the overall quality of care, but also reshaping how and where that care is delivered.⁸

One of the most impactful examples is the growing use of AI-enabled CGMs that enhance patient experience. These devices are revolutionizing at-home diabetes management by empowering patients to make informed treatment decisions and manage their own care with less worry.^1,5  AI-enabled CGMs can predict glucose fluctuations throughout the day in response to food, activity, and other lifestyle factors. This enables timely insulin adjustments and substantially improves diabetes management, as well as supporting decision-making in treatment plans and earlier interventions when needed.⁵

Wearable cardiac monitors are also showing significant promise in shaping the future of cardiology.⁹ These devices enable clinicians to monitor a patient’s heart rate outside of traditional clinical settings, capturing data that can be analyzed to detect arrhythmias and other cardiovascular conditions that might be missed during in-clinic ECGs.⁹

Another transformative aspect of the growing integration of wearable medical devices is their role in population health and clinical research.¹⁰ Aggregated, anonymized data from patients who use wearables is already helping researchers identify patterns, predict health trends, and support broader public health initiatives.¹⁰

For example, during the COVID-19 pandemic, a large-scale study by the Robert Koch Institute used anonymous data from wearable devices to support public health forecasting.¹⁰ By analyzing metrics such as pulse, physical activity, sleep patterns, and regional weather data, researchers were able to forecast COVID-19 outbreak probabilities up to four days in advance. This demonstrated the potential of wearables in predicting public health trends.¹⁰

While wearable technology in healthcare is already showing a lot of promise, certain hurdles must be addressed before widespread integration into routine clinical practice can become a reality.

• Data privacy and security: Wearable devices collect sensitive health data, which raises increasing concerns around data breaches and misuse. Fortunately, advancements in data protection technologies — particularly the integration of blockchain technology — are offering new solutions to safeguard patient information.¹¹

• Data integration: The information collected by wearable devices needs to integrate seamlessly with existing electronic health records and clinical workflows. However, having a lack of standardization across platforms can lead to data silos, potentially limiting access and interoperability.¹² The good news: providers that adopt modern technologies — like cloud-based storage platforms and automated data processing — are better positioned to overcome these integration challenges.¹²

• Access and affordability: Medical-grade wearables tend to be significantly more expensive than their consumer-grade counterparts — and they’re not always widely available.⁷ As a result, access may be limited to well-funded healthcare providers or patients with comprehensive insurance, raising concerns about widening healthcare disparities.⁷ However, as demand grows and technology advances, we can expect factors like cost to decrease and access to expand, helping to democratize these tools over time.

• Accuracy and reliability: For wearables to be trusted in clinical practice, their sensors and algorithms must be able to deliver medically accurate data.¹³ However, factors such as device type or placement on the body can affect the reliability of readings.¹³ Encouragingly, continuous research and innovation are already driving improvements in device performance, paving the way for even more reliable, clinically useful wearables in the future.¹³

Wearable health technology is rapidly reshaping the future of healthcare by enabling continuous, personalized, and remote care.¹ While some challenges remain, ongoing research and innovation are steadily addressing these concerns — helping to ensure a smooth integration into everyday clinical practice.

As adoption continues to expand, wearable medical devices are poised to become a cornerstone of smarter, more connected care — empowering patients with real-time insights and ownership of their personal health and wellbeing.