“Apple is working on a secret plan to turn the iPhone into a personal hub for all your medical information, CNBC reported last week,” Christina Farr reports for CNBC. “But it isn’t doing it alone. The company’s health team has been working with a tiny start-up called Health Gorilla, according to two people familiar with the initiative.”
“Sources said that Health Gorilla is specifically working with Apple to add diagnostic data to the iPhone, including blood work, by integrating with hospitals, lab-testing companies such as Quest and LabCorp and imaging centers,” Farr reports. “The start-up, which has raised just shy of $5 million in funding, specializes in giving doctors a “complete picture of patient health history,” according to its website.”
“Apple is looking to solve a big problem that has plagued the medical sector for decades,” Farr reports. “Hospitals often struggle to access vital data about their patients at the point of care, which is spread among third-party labs, primary care groups and specialists. And those knowledge gaps can often lead to missed diagnoses or unnecessary medical errors, numerous studies have found.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: When Apple – renowned for their commitment to security and privacy – gets a handle on this, untold numbers of lives will be saved.
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’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
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Readers “Fred Mertz” and “Dan K.” for the heads up.]
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Seeing as how I just about kicked ye olde Bucket last week, pacemaker, stent, medical care needs some help. Seems to me Apple can help, and medical services need it! I’d like to 100% of my medical data from every provider on my iPhone.
I find the Health app frustrating.
I can only see one years worth of data. I wish there was an option to show more of a timeline. On my Withings app, I can see my weight over the past four years I have been saving that data. I can see key events in my life and how it effected my weight looking over those four years. I can see when I started running. I can see my divorce. I can see when I started going to the gym. One year is not enough.
Plus, I wish I could see my heath data online, be able to print charts. I find seeing my progress encouraging and it would be nice to customize a chart or two for taking to my doctor. I would love to be able to print my progress as a chart and put it on the frig.
I’ve previously written of my surprise that there isn’t an option for exporting data from Apple’s Health app. It seems such an obvious and important feature. I can’t understand why it’s missing.