Connected Health Device Use Grows Amid COVID-19 Surges: Parks

Fifty-five percent of U.S. broadband households own at least one connected health device, said Parks Associates Tuesday. COVID-19 “significantly accelerated a digital transformation in healthcare,” which had already adopted more IoT-based medical devices and processes, said Chuck Sabin, Bluetooth Special Interest Group senior director-market development, citing an uptick in use of wearables and health monitoring devices for personal use and telemedicine. Bluetooth SIG expects shipments of Bluetooth-enabled devices in the category to reach 500 million yearly by 2025. “For years we have been talking about the promise of smart technologies empowering older adults to age-in-place, but until recently there hasn't been the infrastructure,” said CareBand CEO Adam Sobol: Introducing Amazon Sidewalk, Matter and Wi-Fi sensing could turn the promise “into a reality.” Parks plans a virtual Connected Health Summit Wednesday.