Dive Brief:
- Though the company apparently hasn't confirmed it publicly, it appears that Apple is in talks with various providers and health IT vendors regarding use of its new HealthKit framework.
- Reuters reports that Apple has already spoken with Mount Sinai, the Cleveland Clinic, Johns Hopkins and EMR providers Allscripts and Epic Systems.
- Apple hopes to see HealthKit, a framework that stores and aggregates data, serve as a central hub for data gathered by third-party medical apps and hardware.
Dive Insight:
Apple seems to have a good idea at the right time; the idea of centralizing data from disparate sources and making them available to all stakeholders—including patients—seems like a good approach to solving the problem of data sharing generally. And reports say that it's trying to swerve clear of the potential for data breaches by building privacy controls into the platform and consulting closely with regulatory leaders on best practices in privacy and security in healthcare.This, too, is a good and necessary set of steps.
However, Apple has not so surprisingly tied its platform and the use of its iOS operating system, something that will leave a healthy proportion of providers out of the mix. This means balkanization of patient data, which such a platform should by all means avoid. No, Apple will be Apple, that means that those who want to play ball have to play by its rules. This has made Apple billions in other markets, but arguably can do nothing but hurt them here.
Want to read more? You might enjoy this story about why Apple, Epic and IBM are unlikely to dominate mHealth anytime soon.