Growing health awareness, a steep drop in prices, and push from government-backed health schemes, such as the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM), are driving the growth of India’s smart wearables market from nearly $3 billion in 2025 to a projected $8.64 billion by 2030.
However, several concerns prevail around the use of digitally-enabled medical and fitness devices. From the consumers’ point of view, fears that their confidential health data could be breached, ranks right at the top: recall the 2021 GetHealth incident where more than 61 million wearable and fitness tracking records in an unsecured database were exposed online. Other issues include doubts about the accuracy and reliability of diagnoses, technology anxiety, and suboptimal user experience.
Zero-trust for patient trust
Since patient trust is the bedrock of healthcare, the medical device ecosystem should make an all-out effort to address the above concerns, starting with enhancing data protection. Sensitive patient information should be safeguarded through strong encryption of data at rest and in transit, secure storage, and stringent access control with multifactor authentication. Also, the data should be anonymised before it is used for secondary purposes. In India, fitness trackers and wearables must comply with the country’s Digital Personal Data Protection Act.
Adopting a zero-trust architecture model, device manufacturers should proceed to embed security across hardware, software and networks; other requirements include assessing risk and modelling threats iteratively throughout the product lifecycle, and securing software development by following all recommended standards – for example, ISO 14971, covering risk management for medical devices – conducting security-focused code reviews and performing comprehensive testing.
All-weather resilience and reliable performance
Device reliability and resilience are also key determinants of consumer confidence. Manufacturers should ensure their products are safe, effective, accurate, and up-to-date with existing and emerging threats. For the last, a clear and timely threat monitoring process, and regular security updates throughout the life of the device, are crucial. Fitness trackers and digital medical equipment should be designed for resilience, complete with the capability to identify, hold off and recover from attack, along with comprehensive mechanisms for data backup and disaster recovery.
Physical durability is equally important. Gadgets should be made using robust, non-reactive materials that are water and shock-resistant, and can withstand environmental stresses from dust, moisture, and extreme weather. Manufacturers also need to ensure their products are highly reliable by validating the accuracy and consistency of various measurements – heart rate, sleep pattern, step count, and so on.
Ethical, human-centric practices
Next-gen consumers tend to trust brands that reflect their own values; device manufacturers can earn their trust by demonstrating commitment to ethical principles. One way to do that is by exceeding compliance mandates to protect customers’ interests. Ethical design practices enable this by prioritising values such as patient well-being, user autonomy, transparency and accountability: ethically-designed medical devices show empathy for patients by enabling ease of use, improving accessibility and focusing on the most important clinical needs.
Device manufacturers should be transparent about how they collect, use and secure patient data, to build trust among patients, healthcare providers and regulators; they should keep data collection and storage to a minimum, anonymise and pseudonymise information when required, and allow patients to retain control of their health data. Devices should be designed so as to balance user autonomy with automated functionality, with the overall goal of maximising patient safety and benefits. Companies should also be transparent about their devices’ risks, limitations, and functioning.
To help patients, especially seniors and the not so digitally literate, use their medical devices with confidence, manufacturers should create user-friendly products and interfaces. Device interoperability with other systems – smartphones, health platforms, etc. – reduces friction in patient experience. Last but not least, companies can really build trust and engagement by involving patients in product design and development, paying attention to feedback, and empowering users with the necessary information and tools to monitor their own health.