What Changes In The Wearables Market Mean For Healthcare IT Solutions Providers
By Megan Williams, contributing writer
A shift in healthcare focus from the hospital to the patient home means opportunities for VARs in a growing area of technology.
According to ABI Research, almost 100 million wearable remote patient monitoring (RPM) devices will be shipped out over the next five years, spurred on by increased awareness of care centered on the patient’s home and local environment. For VARs, this means an increase in the need to understand not only market changes, but also needs for both RPM technology, and supporting opportunities around the sector.
Data And RPM
As ABI points out, one of the key areas of the emerging opportunities is data collection, specifically the ability to harvest data from multiple vendor devices and then share it accurately with patients, providers, and payers. In the last six months, Apple, Google, and Samsung have all announced their plans to provide RPM devices.
“Data has traditionally resided in silos belonging to specific applications delivered primarily by device vendors themselves. New cloud platforms capable of collecting data from a range of vendor devices and sharing it securely with a range of related parties including patients, healthcare providers, and payers will drive adoption and bring more connected devices to market,” comments Jonathan Collins, principal analyst at ABI Research.
Data Innovators
As wearables collect more and more data, this will mean more and newer needs around analytics. Companies like Canadian startup, Vivametrica, according to ZDNet, are working to bridge the gap between the data that wearables provide, and clinical applications. Patients and your clients will find the most value in connecting this data to creating personalized risk assessments for chronic conditions like heart disease, diabetes, and back pain, along with creating actionable health targets.
Security And Beyond
With the increased use of this data comes new concerns around security. According to Vivametrica’s CEO, Dr. Richard Hu, technology like Vivametrica’s will “distribute that information — with appropriate security and privacy safeguards — to work as part of further data analyses in an interactive process.”
That means solutions providers will find opportunities in standardizing data, calibrating data, and securing it through all points of the communications process. It will be beneficial for all solutions providers to rethink the way they view the wearables market — instead of addressing it as two separate branches of fitness and clinical, you will find the most growth potential in finding commonalities, understanding client communications and data needs, and addressing those with your experience and insight into the market.
Going Deeper
Read more on the following topics related to wearables and their ancillary technologies: