Wearable Digital Health Technology

This NEJM editorial introduces a new series on the clinical application of wearable digital health technology (DHT) defined as sensor-based tools worn on the body (e.g. smartwatches, adhesive patches, smart rings) that collect physiological data and support remote monitoring, diagnosis, and alerts. Increasingly integrated into care pathways, wearable DHT sits at a transformative junction between consumer novelty and clinical utility. Adoption is accelerating:

• ~200 million smartwatches globally

• ~84 million U.S. health-app users (2020)

• ~7 million continuous glucose monitors forecasted for sale in 2023

• Market projected to reach $76 billion by 2028

• 92% of smartwatch users apply them for health management The editorial distinguishes wearable DHT from AI–ML tools, noting that while the two overlap, DHT focuses on real-time monitoring and patient engagement, whereas AI–ML drives data interpretation and clinical decision support. Future articles in the series will explore wearable DHT in diabetes, cardiology, psychiatry, and epilepsy. The closing article will address cross-cutting barriers to implementation, clinical validation needs, risk of overpromising, and clinician technologist collaboration. The editors aim to equip clinicians and researchers with pragmatic insight into how wearable DHT is beginning to reshape care from hospital-based intervention to flexible, patient-empowered “care anywhere” models.

This NEJM editorial introduces a new series on the clinical application of wearable digital health technology (DHT) defined as sensor-based tools worn on the body (e.g. smartwatches, adhesive patches, smart rings) that collect physiological data and support remote monitoring, diagnosis, and alerts. Increasingly integrated into care pathways, wearable DHT sits at a transformative junction between consumer novelty and clinical utility. Adoption is accelerating:

• ~200 million smartwatches globally

• ~84 million U.S. health-app users (2020)

• ~7 million continuous glucose monitors forecasted for sale in 2023

• Market projected to reach $76 billion by 2028

• 92% of smartwatch users apply them for health management The editorial distinguishes wearable DHT from AI–ML tools, noting that while the two overlap, DHT focuses on real-time monitoring and patient engagement, whereas AI–ML drives data interpretation and clinical decision support. Future articles in the series will explore wearable DHT in diabetes, cardiology, psychiatry, and epilepsy. The closing article will address cross-cutting barriers to implementation, clinical validation needs, risk of overpromising, and clinician technologist collaboration. The editors aim to equip clinicians and researchers with pragmatic insight into how wearable DHT is beginning to reshape care from hospital-based intervention to flexible, patient-empowered “care anywhere” models.