14 DAY TRIAL // Fourteen of the 23 leading hospitals in the U.S. have kicked off a program to pilot Apple’s HealthKit, a framework based on which various iDevices can aggregate relevant information about a person’s physiology and health condition.
Reuters confirms that almost 60% of the leading U.S. hospitals have agreed to put some faith in Apple’s offerings and test out HealthKit’s benefits. According to the news agency, rivals Google and Samsung are only just starting to enter such discussions with the medical industry.
Hospitals seek accurate patient monitoring, faster interventions
High-profile players in the multi-trillion-dollar health industry believe HealthKit can “help physicians monitor patients with such chronic conditions as diabetes and hypertension,” thanks to the sensors found on iDevices and the built-in Health app in iOS 8. With the sensor-laden Apple Watch also on the way, doctors are hoping for a paradigm shift in patient monitoring.
Physicians specifically hope to catch “early signs of trouble and intervene before a medical problem becomes acute,” helping patients live longer while also reducing the hospital’s risk of incurring penalties for repeat admissions.
Management at these high-profile hospitals are still on the fence regarding HealthKit’s accuracy and potential, and worry about the investments required to leverage the technology if they ultimately decide to use it.
William Hanson, chief medical information officer at the University of Pennsylvania Health System, said “This is a whole new data source that we don't understand the integrity of yet.”
Apple Watch may have the final word
Apple’s current Health app still relies a lot on the user manually inputting data, and the same goes for other HealthKit-enabled apps found on iTunes. However, specialized hardware that works in tandem with the user’s iPhone is a different matter altogether.
Medical accessories are already rolling out in great numbers, and the Apple Watch itself will be instrumental to the success of HealthKit. The watch has sensors built in that can accurately assess a person’s movements and heart rate.