Baby pacifier thermometerblood pressure monitor, bracelet or connected sports shoes. High-tech products in the field of health appear as quickly as hot cakes coming out of the oven. This market seduces the Frenchwho see these tools as a way to make their daily lives easier.
But what about doctors? They share the opinion of their patients by expressing their enthusiasm for these innovations. 81% of doctors believe that “connected health is an opportunity for quality of care”, according to a survey by the Odoxa Institute for Orange and the insurer MNH. For 91% of general practitioners and specialists, connected health also represents a good opportunity to “improve the prevention” of diseases in patients.
More than gadgets, connected health products are of real interest to types of patients such as those suffering from chronic illnesses or long-term conditions (for 70% of respondents). 37% of practitioners believe that connected health can benefit the youngest. 31% think it can help frail elderly people, but also “active seniors” (22%).
Prevention of the risks of obesity, diabetes orhypertension is also mentioned among the applications of connected health objects.
A certain mistrust
Connected health tools make it possible to retransmit data (for example body temperature for the pacifier-thermometer; the number of calories expended for the connected bracelet; blood pressure for the blood pressure monitor) on a smartphone application of the user. A specificity that health professionals are wary of all the same: one in two doctors sees it as a threat to medical secrecy. A third of respondents believe that these objects can interfere with patients’ free will.
