Survey: At-home monitoring devices popular, affordable

While a majority of healthcare consumers would prefer to monitor their health at home and find at-home care affordable, concerns surrounding data security persist, according to a survey shared with Virtual Healthcare.

The survey, commissioned by 10XBeta Venture Studio and conducted by polling service Centiment, polled a representative sample of more than 1,000 consumers.

Survey results indicate that healthcare consumers overwhelmingly support the use of at-home medical devices. Three-quarters of respondents (79%) agreed or strongly agreed that they felt comfortable using medical devices at home for routine testing, including blood pressure and glucose monitoring. Less than 10% expressed discomfort.

Most survey respondents (63%) agreed or strongly agreed that remote patient monitoring using at-home devices can provide the same level of care as in-clinic visits for certain conditions. Only about 12% of respondents said they disagreed or strongly disagreed with the statement. Additionally, a majority of respondents (84%) agreed or strongly agreed that they would prefer to monitor their health using medical devices at home, provided the technology is reliable and accurate.

The report states that reliability and accessibility are barriers to the adoption of at-home medical devices. However, data security is even more important.

Fewer than a quarter of respondents (23.7%) said they do not worry about their health data being compromised when using connected at-home medical devices. The rest of the respondents were at least slightly concerned (26.9%) or moderately concerned (26.7%) if not very (12.2%) or extremely concerned (10.5%).

The advent of AI is adding to these concerns. Nearly 36% of survey respondents reported being more concerned about the safety of AI-powered medical devices than traditional at-home medical devices. Only 34% of the respondents stated they did not worry about the safety of AI-powered medical devices compared to traditional options.

Still, 72.3% of survey respondents said they find at-home care and testing more affordable than in-person visits. Not only that, but 77% also agreed or strongly agreed with the notion that at-home medical devices can help bridge the healthcare access gap between urban and rural communities.

Thus, most respondents (64%) said that expanding access to at-home care and medical devices should be a government priority.

"This indicates that, while a strong majority supports government prioritization of expanded access, room for growth remains," the report stated. "This poses crucial questions for additional research: For example, is this percentage not higher due to general ambivalence towards government involvement, particularly in healthcare; or is it connected to conceptions of accuracy, dependability, and security? In order to strengthen public perception and spur further adoption, these issues must be clarified and addressed."

Anuja Vaidya has covered the healthcare industry since 2012. She currently covers the virtual healthcare landscape, including telehealth, remote patient monitoring and digital therapeutics.