How wearables are creating a new health system
Aug 04, 2026
Wearables are becoming part of the operating system for a new kind of healthcare - one that is more continuous, more preventive, and far more connected. We recently exhibited at HLTH Europe where this shift was loud and clear.
“The conversation has fundamentally changed. It's no longer about whether wearable data has a role in healthcare, but about how to integrate it into routine care in a way that creates value for both patients and healthcare systems.”
Fitbit, acquired by Google, is evolving further into Google Health, linking coaching, nutrition tracking, fitness records, uploaded medical records, and physician data-sharing.
And on the infrastructure side, companies such as Thryve Health are seeing the use case change fast.
As Friedrich Lämmel, CEO of Thryve, explained:
“A couple of years ago, most of our device integrations were with fitness apps. Today, the majority are chronic disease management, remote patient monitoring, and insurance.”
Wearables are not simply becoming better wellness products.
“Rather than a new industry, we’re seeing the emergence of a new model of healthcare”
“For decades, healthcare has mainly focused on treating disease once symptoms appear. Connected devices are helping shift that model towards prevention by providing continuous health data outside traditional care settings. The value lies in helping people understand their health sooner and supporting earlier intervention where needed. That's what I would call preventive, connected care.”
For brands, that opens up a different innovation agenda. One that crosses food, ingredients, pharma and healthcare.
We are already seeing early signals of that shift. Withings has partnered with Novo Nordisk. WHOOP is moving closer to clinical credibility. Platforms are linking medical records with behavioral and biometric data. The market is reorganising around interoperability, outcomes, and trust.
Lämmel puts it bluntly:
“When a player like Whoop starts integrating doctors and EHR, it means the entire wearable industry is no longer competing on step counts and sleep scores; we are talking about competing on clinical trust.”
Because the next growth phase will not be won by collecting more data alone.
“Wearables are generating loads of real-time health data at a scale that clinical trials and hospital visits simply cannot match. A patient seen by a doctor twice a year generates far less actionable data than a patient wearing a device 24/7.”
“The discrepancy between devices is real, and it still is. Energy expenditure estimates from consumer wearables can be off by over 100% compared to medical-grade instruments (PLoS ONE, 2026). The solution isn't to pick one brand and tell patients to buy it. It's to build the layer that collects, normalises, and validates data regardless of the source, so users and clinicians can actually trust what they're seeing.”
The future will not be built by assuming raw data equals useful data.
“One thing we've learned at Withings is that technology alone doesn't change outcomes; people do. Technology is most effective when it helps people build and maintain healthy habits over time.“We've found that personalisation plays a key role in keeping patients engaged, which ultimately leads to better retention and better health outcomes.”
“In some of our weight management programs, we've seen patient retention reach as high as 97% after six months, compared with around 50% in traditional programs without connected devices. Real-world evidence is essential because it complements clinical trial data by showing how these outcomes translate into everyday care.”
The Qina Take
The companies who will win are the ones that can turn continuous data into better, more personalised products with a real health impact. This means that companies need to collaborate with external companies to generate this continuous data.
- Think ecosystem, not product. The opportunity is not just in devices. It is in the connected layers around them: nutrition, behavior change, biomarkers, AI, clinical workflows, and consumer engagement.
- Build for evidence and trust. Strong claims will need strong validation. Real-world studies, interoperability, and measurable outcomes will matter more than hype.
- Design for sustained behavior change. The most valuable solutions will be the ones that people actually use over time and that support healthier decisions in daily life, not just at the point of diagnosis.
- Only use AI for product innovation when you have quality, longitudinal and real-world consented data, not just hypothetical persona's
At Qina, we believe the convergence of wearables for real-world data, AI, nutrition, and healthcare is creating one of the most important innovation spaces in the market today. The question is no longer whether this shift is happening. It is who will build the most credible, useful, and scalable solutions around it.
Qina is a strategic innovation consultancy and intelligence platform focused on personalised nutrition and health. We help executives navigate and innovate in the data-driven preventative health market by providing market, nutrition & behavior intelligence through the generation of continuous data so executives can make confident decisions that drive growth.
Qina’s capabilities include market intelligence, innovation and real-world research services at the intersection of food, nutrition, and health.
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