Can your fashion sense determine your health

Access, Accessibility, Cost, & Compliance must be addressed to advance Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM)

Increasing consumer/patient utilization of wearables that support remote patient monitoring for too many starts with a health systems and/or a physicians selection of a RPM platform, the patient’s access to a tech savvy provider, the patient’s ability to obtain access to the technology in their area, the patient’s ability to afford the technology, and then the human characteristics of complying with and using that technology.

Wearable computer devices are becoming more ubiquitous in society today with the Apple Watch, FitBit, and many other products on the market. These wearable devices can continuously capture data and add significant value in helping healthcare providers diagnose and manage various medical conditions.

In my area in Southern California, I see mostly women wearing these devices, and thus there is a gender disparity in their use in this area and there’s a difference in the device selection based on socioeconomic status as well.  When it comes to fashion, the determination of which specific wearable device a consumer wishes to use that day can get as granular as to whether or not it matches their shoes.  That creates a huge challenge around the lack of integration of these different and disparate technologies with one specific platform.

healthR Technologies is transforming this by allowing consumers and patients to determine the wearable device that suits their needs, interest, financials, and fashion sense.  Allowing consumers to wear a FitBit to the gym and then wear their Apple Watch to a cocktail party that evening increases compliance and enhances the continuous monitoring.

It sounds odd that as we embark in this new paradigm of healthcare, we are faced with these seemingly mundane concepts of fashion sense; however, it gets to the core of patient compliance and we must build healthcare technology systems that suit our patients needs to enhance access, Accessibility, cost constraints and their willingness to even use it. 

I’ve had the opportunity to review wearable health devices that are bulky sports watches made for both sexes without regard to a woman’s willingness to wear and there may be certain times where it would be advantageous to monitor that individual but she doesn’t wish to wear it since it clashes with her dress. 

Unfortunately these technologies tend to be limited by the physicians contractual relationship specific RPM groups that restrict the different wearable technology is that they work with and that’s making the process very latest and challenging for some of our patients want to express in salsa and beer different style wearables in alignment with your own style lifestyle and degree of wealth.

As more physicians promote wearable RPM, we will experience some challenges around compliance when one’s patients feel the technology does not coincide with who they are and they have no ability to express themselves through that selection.  In order to effectively serve large populations, we must have high-quality integration that meets not just our physician’s needs, but also our patients.  Leveraging a platform that integrates these disparate wearable technologies is essential and that is exactly what healthR delivers.

healthR addresses this challenge head-on by allowing consumers to select the wearable RPM device, for it seamlessly integrates all of these devices into a single platform for simple and easy monitoring by the medical staff.  Utilizing a fully integrated healthcare technology with a single platform with a dashboard adds significant value to patients and physicians while providing a high-quality remote patient monitoring infrastructure that allows a patient’s fashion sense to transcend the healthcare they receive, leading to better health outcomes.