“Apple’s next update of operating system for iPhones and iPads will include a feature called ‘Health Records’ that may ultimately be best positioned to aggregate electronic medical records for individuals,” Larry Dignan writes for ZDNet.
“The move to electronic medical records and the patient portals that go with them has been underway for years. There are multiple players in the space and tech giants such as Microsoft and Google and now Apple have been inserting themselves into the health care market,” Dignan writes. “Meanwhile, wearable device companies can also be players in the patient data game. Fitbit and Apple have been partnering with medical device makers and that data can ultimately be rolled up into a portal and health record.”
MacDailyNews Take: Fitbit is the Palm of the twenty-tens. (And, BTW, we type that with Fitbits on our wrists. Apple should buy Fitbit just for the user base, merge Fitbit’s steps and other data into the Apple Watch, and be done with it. Then we could use our Apple Watches to compete with Fitbit-wearing friends and family who haven’t yet made the leap to Apple Watch and ditch these Fitbit Flex bracelets that we don’t want to wear, keep charged, etc. The only thing keeping Fitbit alive is their legacy user base and sequestering their step data.)
“Apple has played the privacy marketing well and differentiated itself from Google’s cloud and data centric approach. In areas like artificial intelligence, Apple’s approach is a handicap,” Dignan writes. “In healthcare, that approach is an asset as Health Records will be encrypted and protected under a user’s iPhone passcode.”
More reasons why Apple is positioned to win the electronic medical record game in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Apple can do a whole lot of good with Health Records.
One of the biggest issues in healthcare in the U.S. today is that there is no “Quarterback” – someone running the effort, coordinating the various specialists, making sure everyone is on the same page with the treatment plan(s), drug interactions, allergies, etc. A “playbook” showing the full picture of the patient’s health data would be very useful – and let the disparate medical personnel each quarterback on their own. Hopefully, Apple can step in, build, and fulfill this need with the company’s vaunted security and privacy. — MacDailyNews, August 22, 2016
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The late Apple CEO Steve Jobs developed pancreatic cancer in 2004. He then spent a great deal of time with doctors and the healthcare system until his death in 2011. While that personal health journey had a great impact on Jobs personally, it turns out that it affected Apple’s top management, too. During this time, Jobs discovered how disjointed the healthcare system can be. He took on the task of trying to bring some digital order to various aspects of the healthcare system, especially the connection between patients, their data, and their healthcare providers…
I have long been observing these key moves around healthcare, which accelerated after Jobs’ death. It seems clear that Apple’s management has now and will continue to have a major focus on bridging the gap between a person and their healthcare providers. I believe Apple is on a mission to improve the overall health of its customers as well as that of the healthcare system, a task Jobs gave them before he died. And while Apple’s products define Jobs’ legacy, it may turn out that his and Apple’s greatest contribution may be to bring greater order to the fragmented healthcare world.
It is within this backdrop that the Apple Watch was born. — Tim Bajarin, TIME Magazine, May 09, 2016
SEE ALSO:
Apple announces effortless solution bringing health records to iPhone – January 24, 2018
Apple working with a start-up ‘Health Gorilla’ in secretive personal health record initiative – October 20, 2017
Apple’s healthcare plans under the microscope: From iPhone apps to Apple Watch and what comes next – October 4, 2017
Apple granted U.S. patent for iPhone that measures and analyzes health data – August 8, 2017
Apple working with start-up on iPhone Electronic Health Records plan – June 19, 2017
Apple’s profound iPhone plans for healthcare – June 15, 2017
Apple acquires Gliimpse – August 22, 2016
Apple rehires Flipboard co-founder Evan Doll to develop health software – August 12, 2016
Apple working on all-new, advanced health-tracking hardware; years in the making – August 9, 2016
The real reason why Apple made the Apple Watch – May 09, 2016
Tim Cook hints Apple might build a health device – November 10, 2015
Apple’s Tim Cook declares the end of the PC and hints at new medical product – November 10, 2015
Apple announces new ResearchKit studies for autism, epilepsy and melanoma – October 15, 2015
GlaxoSmithKline working on integrating Apple’s revolutionary ResearchKit into clinical trials – July 13, 2015
ResearchKit, Apple’s medical data experiment, explained – May 20, 2015
Apple announces ResearchKit available today to medical researchers – April 14, 2015
Why Apple’s ResearchKit signals a golden age for health care – March 28, 2015
ResearchKit: The inside story of how Apple’s revolutionary medical research platform was born – March 19, 2015
Apple’s open source ResearchKit will change the world for the better – March 9, 2015
Apple debuts ResearchKit, giving medical researchers the tools to revolutionize medical studies – March 9, 2015
Talk to me when MRIs and X-Rays come in a native image format that Macs can read. They typically come on some CD or DVD with associated Windows software for free.
There is an ancient Mac tool called OsiriX that will work. Sort of, but they want $700 a machine for people to look at X-Ray files.
It’s cheaper to buy each Mac user a little Windows laptop to look at the files.
The free version of Osirix works very well. That is how I see x-rays on my MacBook.
MDN, I get why you predict the demise of anyone competing with Apple, but instead of predicting the end of Fitbit, wouldn’t it be better to encourage the use of WIDE OPEN STANDARDS, so that Apple, Fitbit, Microsoft, and anyone else who wants, can create the best devices and user experiences they can?
Apple would always win anyway, right? 😉
Can I print charts of my data stored on my iPhone?
Nope.
Well u see.. it would be agsinst their privacy policy..
What if you print it and someone else sees that piece of printed paper…. without your permission . ….. sigh
As I wait in doc office, all I can say is USA health system is a mess.