Most American consumers use wearables to track their health data, according to a new report by Dosis, but relatively few share the information with their doctors. In 2015 we reported the growing interest in wearable health as measured by numerous surveys and reports. In the Dosis 2019 Personalized and Digital Medicine Consumer Report, 75% of surveyed consumers said they collected data their health with digital devices including smartphone apps and wearables. Surprisingly, however, only 14% of the majority who do track health data reported that “they would be willing to share their data with a provider to specifically influence personalized treatment.”
Dosis points out that such a small percentage willing to share data runs contrary to earlier reports that 60% of those who track their data saying they were willing to share it with a doctor to improve their health. The disparity between the proportions of those who would provide their collected health data with physicians may be due to the specific wording of the questions. Sharing information “to improve their health” has different connotations than sharing “to influence personalized treatment.”
Dosis advocates personalized medicine, specifically as it relates to adjusting pharmaceutical doses — hence the company’s name. The Dosis report states the lower willingness-to-share percentage in its report may be due to an aversion to the term “personalized medicine.” Personalized medicine refers to accounting for genetic, lifestyle, and environmental factors in medical prescriptions. According to the firm, whose main product is an AI-powered personalized dosing platform for people with anemia, about 33% of the population is aware of the concept of personalized medicine. The Dosis survey also found that 49% of consumers familiar with personalized medicine were interested in it for themselves, while only 22% of consumers previously unfamiliar with the concept expressed interest for themselves. Therefore, Dosis states, the survey proves a need to inform consumers about personalized medicine and the idea that people benefit most with personalized treatment.
The concept of personalized medicine and the need for individual treatment based on genetics, lifestyle, and environment falls outside our charge at Health Tech Insider. We did take notice, however, of the Dosis report that 75% of U.S. adults use wearables in some form to track their own health data. The percentage seems high to us, but if accurate, it demonstrates a rapid acceptance of wearable health technology.
