Virtual health care and fitness find their rhythm
Connected consumers improve well-being with virtual health visits and smart watches, shifting focus from tracking biometrics to fitness.
Jana Arbanas
Paul H. Silverglate
Susanne Hupfer
Jeff Loucks
Prashant Raman
Michael Steinhart
Virtual health skyrocketed between 2021 and 2022, as COVID-19 halted many in-person health care visits.1 Now that face-to-face interactions are more common again, the number of consumers seeking virtual health care appointments has decreased, but those surveyed still find virtual visits convenient and often equally as satisfying as seeing a clinician in the flesh.
In this year’s survey, 42% of respondents said they attended at least one virtual medical appointment, either as a patient or accompanying a patient (figure 8.1). More than half of those who attended as patients reported being “very satisfied” with the experience; only 10% said they were dissatisfied.
As expected, convenience was the top draw of virtual medical appointments, but eight in 10 respondents said they were also satisfied with the technical aspects of the appointment, the quality of care, and the human connection they felt with the practitioner. As video interactions become more commonplace, consumers may find that they’re able to establish a rapport with health care providers and feel “heard” even when they’re connecting remotely.
Looking ahead, a majority of respondents expressed a preference for virtual or hybrid options for attending mental health care or therapy sessions and for checking on chronic conditions—needs that can sometimes be met without requiring an in-person appointment. Only 28% would prefer mental health visits to occur completely or mostly in person. Conversely, nearly half would rather see a provider mostly or completely in person for new symptoms and issues, and 67% would want in-person options for emergency issues. Essentially, they seem to want to use tech to streamline their care experience, depending on their specific health needs.
Another important aspect of digital wellness is health and fitness tracking, either via smartwatch or dedicated fitness wearable. This year’s findings seem to reflect a softening across the category: Compared with 2022, personal ownership of fitness trackers fell seven percentage points to 22%, and connected exercise equipment fell eight points to 13%. Smartwatches are a bright spot: Personal ownership has held steady over the past two years, with 29% of respondents reporting they have one.
Sixty-nine percent of those who own smartwatches and fitness trackers say the devices improve their fitness, and 64% say they improve their health. What they’re tracking has shifted slightly from health metrics to fitness: Monitoring heart health, calories, and blood oxygen levels is down significantly from last year, while counting steps, measuring speed and distance, and tracking performance are up. This would seem to reflect an uptick in outdoor activities and a relative lessening of pandemic vigilance around health signals.
Health and fitness wearables are not ubiquitous yet; 39% of nonowners thought they wouldn’t be useful, and 30% are put off by the cost. However, smartphones, which are ubiquitous, are also being used to help enhance health and wellness. Sixty-four percent of smartphone owners said the device helps to improve their health, and 58% say it helps improve their fitness. Four in 10 said they track fitness activities on their phones, and more than a third use them to manage health care appointments and tasks.
An opportunity for device makers, health care providers, and the wellness ecosystem may lie in streamlining experiences and connecting wearable and phone data feeds to deliver personalized recommendations for users and their health care providers.2 The health care industry should consider how to standardize data types and how to incorporate actionable insights into clinician workflows, enabling improved care delivery that aligns with their payment models.3
In that vein, we asked respondents how interested they’d be in “futuristic” health care experiences, such as having health data flow directly from wearables to health care providers (figure 8.2). A majority of Millennials and Gen Z respondents were excited by the prospect. More than half of Millennial and Gen Z respondents also expressed interest in an ecosystem of wearables and accessories that aggregate health metrics, and in having medical-grade smart patches for monitoring blood sugar, heart rhythm, and respiratory health and early detection of diseases.4 Younger generations seem to have a higher comfort level with providing digital wellness information in exchange for improved health and fitness advice from professionals.
This split in generational attitudes highlights another challenge for tech companies: how to get older consumers comfortable with health innovations. Elder care is considered a growth area for health technology,5 and companies should prioritize their user experience and marketing efforts to help bring this high-value demographic aboard.