Patient engagement with consumer wearable devices in the electronic health record

Data from wearable devices have the potential to transform personal health, clinical care and biomedical research. The purpose of this study was to quantify early adoption and short-term engagement with consumer-based wearable devices connected to an EHR outside of a study setting. We analyzed device data from 843 patients (mean age 48 years, 41% female) who connected their devices to the electronic health record (EHR) of a large academic medical center in the US between 2023 and 2025. The most popular connected consumer devices were the Apple Watch (56%), followed by the Oura ring (7.7%), and the Fitbit activity tracker (4.6%). Using survival analysis, we found that 692 (82%) patients remained engaged at three months, with actively connected devices. Cox regression models identified statistically significant differences in time to disengagement based on gender and step count. Regular and updated analyses of device adoption and engagement patterns are therefore warranted to increase the value of these devices and their data for the purpose of health monitoring and improvement.