• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

AppleToolBox

Tools and Fixes for Mac, iPad, iPhone & iPod

Search posts

  • Forums
  • Contact

CONNECT WITH US

CATEGORIES

';
  • All
  • iPhone
  • iPad
  • Mac/MacBook
  • Apple Watch
  • How-To’s
  • Reviews

SITE

  • Home
  • About Us
  • Forums
  • Contact
  • Advertise

Search posts

You are here: Home / News / Health: Apple’s Next Game Changer?

Health: Apple’s Next Game Changer?

By Alex Cequea 0 comments Last updated August 25, 2017

Facebook0Tweet0Pin0LinkedIn0

Apple is in a curious position: on the one hand, they have a ton of cash and can pretty much buy out every major competitor. On the other, their lack of recent innovations threatens their leadership status, which can disappear very quickly if someone else fills a void.Health: Apple’s Next Game Changer?

Over the last few years, Apple dipped its toes into several future-leaning industries: driverless cars, artificial intelligence, mobile payments, healthcare, etc. Out of all of these initiatives, health care creates a perfect storm of opportunity for Apple. Here’s why.

Contents

  • 1 Apple Already Has Your Data
  • 2 HealthKit, ResearchKit, and CareKit: The holy trinity of health app development
  • 3 People Aren’t the Only Obstacles Standing in Apple’s Way
  • 4 Baby Boomers Could Cement Apple’s Health Care Dominance
  • 5 The Power of Default
    • 5.1 Related Posts:

Apple Already Has Your Data

In today’s tech environment, data is king. Whoever collects data, owns the future opportunities it brings. That’s why fitness-only trackers find it hard to compete with companies like Apple. Apple’s products are already a part of people’s lives. Like a wallet or a set of keys, people take their iPhones (and Apple Watches) wherever they go, in whatever they do.  

Apple Watch and health apps log an enormous amount of user information. Apple knows a lot about your behaviors–where you’ve been, where you’re going, how fast your heart beats, how many calories you expended, and so forth. And if you’ve enabled some of the additional health features, Apple also knows how you’re feeling about it.

With this data in-hand, Apple gains incredible insight into people’s daily habits and health trends in a way never before possible. All that user information hands Apple a unique opportunity. It can leverage that data to create new products and services.

But collecting data is just the starting point. Building partnerships with health systems and networks, hospitals, doctors, health insurers, and the rest of the healthcare industry are key. This data doesn’t stand on its own–it needs interpretation. And that’s why Apple created frameworks for others to build upon. Case in point: developer kits.

HealthKit, ResearchKit, and CareKit: The holy trinity of health app development

Apple is very cleverly positioning itself to have a footprint in every area of healthcare, from access to user behavior. HealthKit enables third-party developers to integrate their health and fitness apps with Apple’s Health app. Apple designed both ResearchKit and CareKit specifically for the professional medical community and its patients. ResearchKit allows data access to doctors and medical professionals and integrates patient’s health data into their systems. On the flip side, CareKit is a framework that patients use to access that same data.

These three frameworks pretty much cover the bases for data-driven healthcare developments. Apple could find a very profitable niche being the broker of information between doctors, nurses, hospitals, and patients. Likewise, they could find themselves being the default leader in health record access at the patient level.

Apple could find a very profitable niche being the broker of information between doctors, nurses, hospitals, and patients.

However, for Apple to get a foothold, they need to conquer the biggest challenge of all: changing people’s behavior.

People Aren’t the Only Obstacles Standing in Apple’s Way

It’s one thing to show someone how cool and useful these health apps are. It’s another to actually get them to change their behavior and use it on a consistent basis. But in my view, Apple’s biggest challenge is the medical system itself. In this case, change very much comes from the top, and asking an older generation of medical staff to introduce a new behavior into their processes is extremely difficult.

Think about that for a minute. Yes, tech breakthroughs in the medical field advance at incredible speeds, but the interaction between the medical provider (doctor, nurse, etc.) and the patient has remained largely the same over the last few decades. While there’s no question that medical professionals see value in the health data that comes from apps, there is a transition period that needs to take place. Especially since the population most in need of healthcare, the retiring baby boomers, have the lowest smartphone adoption rates out of all other age categories.

Baby Boomers Could Cement Apple’s Health Care Dominance

According to Pew Research Center, people aged 65+ have the lowest smartphone rate adoption across all categories, at 42 percent. This fact presents a fascinating situation: as more retirees adopt smartphones into their daily lives, AND as their health care needs increase, it’s only natural to expect a rise in health app usage from this demographic.

It’s the perfect storm of opportunity for Apple. As they continue to lay the groundwork with frameworks for third-party development, and as doctors and medical professionals continue to introduce these solutions into their processes, the need for these systems skyrockets as more and more baby boomers retire.

The Power of Default

Steve Jobs talked about the power that comes with being the “default” option. In the 90s, Apple stayed alive as a company because of their foothold in education. I experienced this first-hand as a high school student using Macs in my school’s computer lab, instead of PCs. In a world dominated by PCs and Windows, millions of students across the country learned to program and access the internet via a Mac. In the same way that Apple maintained their footprint in education, they could end up holding a sizable chunk of the health market and become the default solution for health data.

We are at a turning point. As health care needs continue to increase in this country and around the world, Apple can sneak into the lead before anyone else even has a chance to start. For Apple’s own health and its future, not taking advantage of this moment would be a major missed opportunity.

Related Posts:

  • Apple’s Venture into Healthcare via CareKit and ResearchKit – March EventApple’s Venture into Healthcare via CareKit…
  • Apple Working on BioMedical Hardware PrototypesApple Working on BioMedical Hardware Prototypes
  • Apple’s HealthKit Adds support for CCD to iOS10Apple’s HealthKit Adds support for CCD to iOS10
  • Should Apple look into Acquiring Withings?Should Apple look into Acquiring Withings?
  • Apple Hires Top Talent in the area of Personalized MedicineApple Hires Top Talent in the area of Personalized Medicine
  • How to Join the Apple Heart Study, And Why it MattersHow to Join the Apple Heart Study, And Why it Matters
  • Apple’s Future iPhone Could Compute Health Data Using Optical SensorsApple’s Future iPhone Could Compute Health Data…
  • The Battle for Diabetes, Apple and GoogleThe Battle for Diabetes, Apple and Google
Facebook0Tweet0Pin0LinkedIn0

Reader Interactions

Write a Comment Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Popular Posts

  • How to get Disney Plus on your Apple TV (including older models) How to get Disney Plus on your Apple TV (including older models)
  • Using AirPods for Spotify? Get the best sound using these tips Using AirPods for Spotify? Get the best sound using these tips
  • AirPods Pro - The Complete Guide AirPods Pro – The Complete Guide
  • Strange charges from itunes.com/bill, apple.com/bill, or APL*iTunes? Strange charges from itunes.com/bill, apple.com/bill, or APL*iTunes?
  • Apple TV app for Roku not working? How-to fix Apple TV app for Roku not working? How-to fix

Connect with us

Recent Comments

  • Elizabeth Jones on iPad Sound Not Working? No Sound on iPad? How to Fix It: “Hi Robin, We are so sorry to learn about all your life troubles--that's a lot for anyone to handle.…”
  • Elizabeth Jones on How to start using your free 1 year Apple TV+ subscription: “Hi Vince, This is a problem we haven't heard of before with other family sharing services. You must first…”
  • Elizabeth Jones on iPad Wont Turn Off, Possible Fixes: “Hi Sridharan, If your iPad runs iOS 11 or higher (check via Settings > General > About), try shutting…”
  • Elizabeth Jones on iPhone 11/X/XS/XR Shows Swipe to Recover Message, How-To Fix: “Hi Karla, It doesn't mean for iPhone is currently erased but the process of recovering your data from a…”

Forums: Recent Topics

  • Can’t open my Apple iPad.
  • App Store Rakuten Update won’t close
  • Overnight charge caused hot ipad and not able to restart
  • Trash gets frozen emptying.
  • Iphone XS Max and 11 Max apple carplay crashes in Hyundai Elantra 2019

Footer

ABOUT

  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Advertise
  • Privacy
  • Terms of Use

DEVICES

  • iPhone
  • Mac & MacBook
  • Apple Watch
  • iPad
  • AirPods
  • Apple TV
  • iPod Touch

GUIDES

  • iOS 13 & iPadOS
  • Apple ID
  • iCloud
  • App Store
  • iTunes
  • FaceTime
  • iMessage
  • Siri
  • Books and iBooks
  • Game Center
  • AirPlay

CONNECT

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • FeedBurner
  • YouTube
  • Google +

© Copyright 2010-2019 AppleToolBox · All Rights Reserved

This site and its content are in no way affiliated or endorsed by Apple, Inc. · Reproduction without explicit permission is prohibited