Despite Physician Enthusiasm, Wearable Data Adoption Stalled by System Barriers
International survey of physicians finds workflow, reimbursement, and trust gaps limiting integration of wearable health data into clinical care
CHICAGO, July 08, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- A new international survey of physicians highlights strong enthusiasm for wearable health technologies and their potential to improve patient care. Physicians recognize the value of data from smartwatches, fitness trackers, and biosensors – and many are using wearable technologies in their own lives to monitor and support their health. While interest and optimism are high, the survey finds healthcare systems across the globe must evolve to better support integration of wearable data into routine care through stronger clinical workflows, reimbursement pathways, and data infrastructure.
The 2026 International Physician Survey on Consumer Wearables, conducted by the American Medical Association’s Center for Digital Health and AI and Medscape, surveyed 2,222 physicians in the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom. The study examined physician use of patient-generated wearable data, trust in data quality, reimbursement, workflow challenges, and factors influencing adoption. The findings suggest that unlocking the clinical promise of wearable technology requires coordinated action from healthcare leaders, policymakers, and technology developers alike.
“Physicians are seeing more wearable data in their daily practice and recognize its significant potential to improve clinical decision-making,” said AMA President Willie Underwood III, MD, MSc, MPH. “Across six advanced economies, however, intertwined regulatory, reimbursement, and implementation barriers leave potentially transformative data from being fully integrated into routine practice. Physicians are confident that wearable data can enhance diagnosis, disease management, and patient engagement, but broader adoption depends on stronger clinical validation, clearer payment and liability frameworks, better tools for interpreting data, and workflows that fit seamlessly into clinical practice. Addressing these challenges will help unlock the full value of wearable technology as a trusted component of modern healthcare.”
Taken together, the survey findings point to five key themes that explain how wearable data is currently being used—and underused—in clinical practice and what is required to move from interest to true integration across health systems. Key findings include:
• Physician interest is already high. Most physicians (97%) reported reviewing wearable data in some capacity, and large majorities reported that wearable data provide at least some clinical advantage for patient care.
• Physicians respond to patient interest in wearable data. About one in four physicians reported weekly patient requests to review wearable data, but across all six countries physicians were consistently responsive to patient requests to review the data.
• Structural barriers—not motivation—limit integration. No country reported wearable-data integration rates above 6%, and differences in physician adoption were more closely tied to reimbursement, workflow feasibility, and regulatory conditions than physician interest.
• Successful integration requires more than payment. France had reimbursement pathways but the lowest physician integration rate and highest liability concerns, while the United Kingdom reported high wearable use by physicians but low feasibility and no payment pathway.
• Evidence, trust, and workflow support are essential. Integrated physicians reported greater confidence in interpreting wearable data and stronger trust in its accuracy, while nonintegrated physicians cited concerns about liability, false positives, and workflow burden.
The survey also found that cardiologists and endocrinologists were the most likely to use wearable data in clinical care, while primary care physicians, neurologists, and pulmonologists reported greater challenges related to relevance, reliability, and practicality.
Through its ongoing leadership, the AMA Center for Digital Health and AI strives to make technology work for physicians by supporting their voice in shaping, guiding, and implementing technologies transforming medicine. Learn more about digital health resources offered by the AMA by visiting the AMA STEPS Forward collection, providing physicians with practical advice on integrating digital health tools with in-person care.
AMA Media & Editorial American Medical Association 312-464-4430 media@ama-assn.org
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