Apple has been in talks with hospitals and other healthcare organizations to explore the possibility of bringing health records together via iPhones, media outlets reported.
The effort to make all personal health information available via its devices would be a first for Apple, which until now has focused it healthcare work on fitness and wellness with its Apple HealthKit. Apple has been typically mum on the developments and CNBC, which first reported Apple’s latest intentions for healthcare, said the works has thus far been “secretive.”
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Unnamed sources told CNBC Apple is looking at startups in the cloud-hosting space to give it a foothold in healthcare.
The company has already acquired personal health data startup Gliimpse, which has a secure platform for consumers to manage and share their own medical records.
The entrepreneur Anil Sethi, who built Gliimpse and sold it to Apple three years later, is now working at Apple. His title, according to his LinkedIn page, is Director, Apple Health.
More recently, Apple recruited Sumbul Desai, MD, from Stanford, where she has been involved in several successful digital projects. Apple executives have not released what role Desai will play, whether she might join the team working on ResearchKit, HealthKit and CareKit, or work on another project altogether.
Also, Apple insiders reportedly talked with people at The Argonaut Project, which is promoting the adoption of open standards for health information, and to "The Carin Alliance," an organization that advocates for giving patients a central role in controlling their own medical data.
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Email the writer: bernie.monegain@himssmedia.com