Apple HealthKit Continues To Gain Support From Medical Field

Read original story on: 9to5Mac

Since its launch, Apple’s HealthKit has been continuously gaining support from the medical community, with at least 14 top U.S. hospitals starting trial programs to integrate Apple’s health data service. The latest is the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.

During the past weekend, the LA hospital added HealthKit support in its patient records systems, allowing its doctors access to synchronized data from various health and fitness apps that support Apple’s platform. One potentially controversial aspect of such integration, however, is that use of HealthKit data is opt-out, rather than opt-in. Furthermore, patients will simply have to cease using HealthKit-enabled apps if they wish to opt out.

 

Apple’s HealthKit Sees Early Adoptions Among Top Hospitals

Read original story on: Reuters

According to Reuters, 14 out of 23 top US hospitals have rolled out a pilot program of Apple’s HealthKit service. The trails generally aim to help doctors monitor patients with chronic conditions like diabetes or hypertension. As Apple takes an early lead in penetrating the healthcare industry with its well-developed ehealth ecosystem, its competitors are reportedly only just starting to reach out to hospitals and other medical partners.

Apple’s HealthKit Is Finally Here

Following an extensive five-month-long tease of the breakthrough potential of HealthKit, Apple’s software platform for collecting health data is finally here. Whether it will truly live up to the hype remains to be seen. But Apple seems pretty determined to make it the new standard in digital health, if the partnership it recently struck with Mayo Clinic, one of the biggest name in health care, is any indication.

Why Apple Restricted Health Data For Medical Purpose Only

With the introduction of its HealthKit, Apple is set to become the “centralized hub of health data”. But marketers shouldn’t get too excited: Apple’s updated app store guidelines restrict the data gathered from HealthKit API to medical, fitness, or research proposes only, and prohibits it from being used for advertising or other data-mining purposes. This move is understandable due to patient privacy concerns.