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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.
