Consumer wearable devices are becoming a more common source of health information in clinical practice, according to a new survey from the American Medical Association (AMA). While physicians increasingly recognize the clinical value of data generated by devices such as smartwatches and health-tracking rings, the survey indicates that significant operational and regulatory barriers continue to limit widespread use.
The report found that 86% of U.S. physicians said they at least sometimes review information from patients’ consumer wearables, including metrics related to heart physiology, oxygen and breathing, and sleep. The survey included more than 2,200 physicians across the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom.
Despite this level of engagement, only 6% of U.S. physicians reported that wearable data is integrated into their clinical workflows, such as through direct import into electronic health records (EHRs). AMA CEO Dr. John Whyte said, “We have all this data that’s available, but it’s actually not actionable because we don’t have a way to get it into clinical workflow.”
Physicians continue to see potential clinical value in wearable data. Nearly 80% of U.S. physicians and 74% of physicians in other surveyed countries reported at least some clinical advantages to incorporating wearable information into patient care. In addition, almost 30% of U.S. physicians said they take a clinical action at least weekly after reviewing data from consumer devices.
However, physicians identified several obstacles to broader adoption. Limited appointment time makes it difficult to review data stored across multiple consumer devices, while relevant information must also be documented within the EHR to remain accessible to other healthcare providers.
Confidence in the quality of wearable data also remains an important consideration. Referring to devices that may identify potential sleep apnea, Whyte asked, “Where’s the clinical validation of this?”
Reimbursement represents another challenge. Only 10% of U.S. physicians reported using CPT codes for remote monitoring, which currently require FDA-approved devices operating under a clinician-directed care plan rather than consumer wearables. By comparison, 35% of German physicians reported using the country's DiGA reimbursement pathway for approved digital health applications.
Whyte emphasized that reimbursement alone will not resolve adoption challenges. “If physicians don’t believe in the data, and physicians don’t have a way to integrate it into workflow, it doesn’t matter what you pay,” he said. “It’s not gonna happen.”
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