Body-worn monitoring devices have the potential to disrupt healthcare, but they first need to overcome some serious hurdles, reports MD+DI.
One of the main criticisms lobbed at wearable technologies today is the fact that many people who initially adopt them don’t end up using them long term. A September 2013 study by Endeavor Partners found that although one in 10 Americans owned an activity tracker, nearly one in two users had abandoned their devices after only six months. When the consulting firm polled a new group of users in June 2014, long-term adoption rates had improved somewhat, but one-third of users had still stopped using their devices after just half a year.
Therein lies a major problem for wearables in healthcare: Abandoning a toy you got for Christmas is one thing, but not continuing to use a device prescribed by your doctor could have serious ramifications—especially if it’s being used to capture vital data. For wearables to truly transform healthcare, they will need to improve their stickiness among users.
