Why Are Doctors Skeptical About Wearable Tech?

Wearable technology, led by the ever-popular smartwatch, is a booming multi-billion-dollar industry. These devices promise to track everything from heart rate to sleep patterns, exercise routines, and even menstrual cycles. With health at the forefront, it’s no surprise they’re making waves.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting recently proposed rolling out wearables to NHS patients in England to help track symptoms like reactions to cancer treatments at home. It sounds futuristic, right? But not everyone’s on board. Many doctors—and tech experts—remain skeptical about wearable health data’s real-world value.

Zoe Kleinman was recently testing the Ultrahuman smart ring, and it was eerily intuitive. One weekend, it flagged a slight temperature spike and restless sleep, warning she might be falling ill. She brushed it off, blaming perimenopause symptoms, but two days later, was in bed with gastric flu. Coincidence? Maybe. But could this data have helped a doctor treat her?

Some wearables, like the Oura ring, allow users to share data reports with healthcare professionals. According to Dr. Jake Deutsch, a US clinician who advises Oura, this kind of data helps him assess overall health more accurately. Still, not every doctor sees it as useful.

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Dr. Helen Salisbury, a GP in Oxford, says wearable data is more likely to cause unnecessary worry than genuine breakthroughs. “We’re building a society of hypochondria and over-monitoring,” she explains. For minor anomalies like a temporary elevated heart rate, she says, “many of them do not require further investigation.”

The psychological comfort wearables provide can also be misleading. As Dr. Salisbury points out, serious conditions like cancer aren’t necessarily detectable through a watch or app. Wearables may encourage healthier habits—like walking more or drinking less—but that’s advice doctors have been giving forever.

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Despite the hype, wearable data isn’t always accurate. Dr. Yang Wei, an associate professor in wearable tech at Nottingham Trent University, highlights practical limitations: “When you go to a hospital, you don’t worry about power consumption. On a wearable, you can’t measure your ECG continuously without draining the battery.”

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Motion also impacts accuracy. Devices use software to fill gaps, but there’s no global standard for wearables or the data they generate. Even with consistent use, false alarms are inevitable. Just ask Ben Wood, whose Apple Watch mistakenly alerted his wife to a “car crash” while he was driving fast cars on a track.

Wearables may have potential in pushing healthcare into community settings, but the tech—and the NHS—still have work to do. As Pritesh Mistry of the Kings Fund notes, we need infrastructure and training before wearables truly transform healthcare. Until then, take your data with a pinch of salt—and maybe an extra walk.