Nearly all physicians review data from consumer wearables, but few healthcare systems have incorporated that information into routine clinical care.
The 2026 International Physician Survey on Consumer Wearables, conducted by the American Medical Association’s Center for Digital Health and AI and Medscape, surveyed more than 2,200 physicians in the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom. The study examined physicians’ use of patient-generated wearable data, confidence in its quality, reimbursement, workflow challenges and other factors affecting adoption.
Here are six key findings from the July 8 survey:
- Ninety-seven percent of physicians review wearable data in some capacity, while none of the six countries included in the study reported integration rates above 6%. The survey found barriers involving reimbursement, clinical workflows, regulation and data infrastructure continue to hinder broader use.
- The survey found limited adoption is driven more by implementation barriers than by a lack of physician interest. Differences among countries were associated with payment policies, regulatory environments and whether wearable data could be incorporated practically into clinical care.
- About one in four physicians said patients ask them weekly to review wearable data. Physicians in all six countries were generally willing to respond to those requests, according to the survey.
- Establishing a reimbursement pathway is not enough on its own to increase adoption. France had a payment pathway but recorded the lowest physician integration rate and the highest level of liability concern. In the United Kingdom, physicians reported high personal use of consumer wearables but low feasibility for clinical integration and no payment pathway.
- Physicians who had incorporated wearable data into care reported greater confidence in interpreting the information and stronger trust in its accuracy. Those who had not integrated the data were more likely to raise concerns about liability, false positives and added workflow demands.
- Use also varied by specialty. Cardiologists and endocrinologists were the most likely to use wearable data in clinical care, while primary care physicians, neurologists and pulmonologists reported more concerns involving its relevance, reliability and practicality.
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