World Health Day is celebrated every year on April 7 to spread awareness about people’s overall health and wellness. With this year’s theme, “Together for a fairer, healthier world,” one can’t possibly forget about Apple’s contribution to the healthcare sector.
“Apple’s greatest contribution to mankind should be about health,” what Tim Cook casually said during a Jim Cramer interview became his golden words in history. On the occasion of World Health Day, let us remember Apple’s contribution to the healthcare sector in detail.
How Apple and Healthcare walk hand in hand
One needs to understand that healthcare providers can facilitate the world with the best health care if they have powerful, intuitive tools.
Apple has strategically placed itself under different components of adequate healthcare to ensure personalized healthcare in all aspects. Let me break it down for you.
Apple in the hospital
Apple hardware plays a vital role in this segment. The doctors need to be connected with the staff all the time to stay informed about patient history.
Clinicians need health records accessible with all data at the tip of their hands. Well, the Apple Ecosystem helps nurses stay connected with the medical staff.
Focussing on patient care at home
Being a doctor, you want to ensure that your patients stay safe and hydrated all the time. On the other hand, the patients want to stay connected to their doctors to receive timely guidance in emergencies.
With the iOS and iPadOS apps enabled, patients can easily stay connected to the office’s teams. On the other hand, doctors need to inculcate CareKit in their system to develop apps that empower their patients. Health-Kit-enabled apps are the way to go.
Custom apps for medical research
Here is the best part of working with Apple. If you don’t find a health app on your iPhone, feel free to make one.
Apple’s open-source framework ResearchKit lets you take your studies to the real world by streamlining the workflow process.
This feature stays loyal to Apple’s vision of delivering you personalized healthcare rather than a volume-driven healthcare approach.
Regardless of the industry, Apple products and services are designed to improve your workflow and enhance your productivity as an individual or a unit on the whole.
The seamless integration mentioned above is a proactive approach that lets you achieve that.
Now, when you talk about personalized healthcare, one cannot miss the Apple Watch, one of the most stereotyped healthcare gadgets Apple has ever produced. Let us break down the gadget a little more and exploit it to its maximum potential.
Apple Watch: Apple’s greatest contribution to personalized healthcare
Since the Apple Watch debuted in 2015, it has become much more than a smart wearable. It can help you transition from a fitness enthusiast to a fitness geek with inbuilt facilities.
Your Apple Watch, once paired with your iPhone, comes with a room full of opportunities in the healthcare sector.
Moreover, with Apple Watch Series 7 claiming to have a glucometer and mental health apps, 2021 sure will be an exciting year for Apple Watch enthusiasts.
I don’t need to get into excruciating details to emphasize how inseparable the Apple Watch is from our routine lives; here is a glance at all the features we have enjoyed as an individual.
- Monitor abnormal heart rhythm
- Track your menstrual cycle
- Protect you against hearing damage
- Help manage your anxiety levels
- Activity tracking
- Calories counter
- Compile your health data to research
This list can be quite an extensive one, for the options are endless. What was considered to be an anniversary gift from Lori ended up saving Bob’s life.
And this is just one example. Every user at some point has had a unique story that has worked wonders for the brand. Such is the impact of the Apple Watch and the features it has to offer. And as Nicholas Carr of Time Magazine says,
“Apple’s Watch could be as revolutionary as the first clocks.”
Nicholas Carr
But what led to the recent hype of Apple and healthcare? We might have an idea!
The infamous Tim Cook interview
“If you zoom out into the future, and you look back, and you ask the question, ‘What was Apple’s greatest contribution to mankind?’ It will be about health,”
This is possibly one of the Mad Money Show’s most significant highlights and what came to be known as one of the most famous lines by Tim Cook.
Here is a fun crossover that I did not think we needed: Cramer’s charitable trust holds Apple’s shares.
Cramer’s one-on-one with Cook had some profound views to embark on Apple’s healthcare system journey. Watch the interview here for deeper insights.
Action speaks louder than words: Apple’s donation
The Cupertino-based tech giant not only speaks but also acts! Alarmed during the pandemic situation, the company managed to cover its part by donating millions. According to the report, Apple’s COVID-19 response,
“Apple’s committed donations to the global COVID-19 response — both to help treat those who are sick and to help lessen the economic and community impacts of the pandemic — today reached $15 million worldwide.”
So what’s next for the tech giant in the health sector?
Apple’s ambitions in health care
Given Apple’s penchant for keeping things under the wraps, it is hard to say what comes next. But, based on tons of research data and a strong gut feeling, here are a few ambitions Apple aims to achieve shortly.
1. Apple aims to connect patients’ iPhones with providers’ EHRs
The tech giant rolled out a feature in its Health app that lets users download, store, and share parts of their medical data with their doctors. Apple may not be the first company to bring health records to their mobile devices. Google, Microsoft, and others tried but failed massively.
On the other hand, Apple has more than 39 providers, including Geisinger Health System, Dignity Health, and Johns Hopkins Medicine.
Way to go, Apple!
2. Improving two-way communication between patients and doctors
Apple has been blessed with some high-quality endorsements that helped increase its popularity soon after Apple rolled out HealthKit along with its partners Duke University School of Medicine and Stanford University Hospital.
With the help of HealthKit and CareKit, Apple wants to build an effective communication strategy in the hope of improving their health.
3. Apple wants to smoothen researchers recruiting study participants
This step will dramatically cut down the cost that researchers spend looking for the right audience. One of the first examples of this is Apple’s Heart Study, being conducted in partnership with Stanford Medicine.
The study revolves around atrial fibrillation to standard detection methods and has recruited more than 400,000 participants via their iPhones.
As Tim Cook told Fortune,
“We put out ResearchKit and made it a source so that people could run enormous-sized studies… Honestly, we don’t make any money on that. But it was something that we thought would be good for society, and so we did it.”
Tim Cook
Bonus: You can support Apple’s vision to sustenance healthcare
The Apple Research app involves three massive research studies that look at hearing health, heart health, and women’s health. Apple is conducting these studies by collaborating with some of the world’s most prestigious health bodies, including the World Health Organization.
You can contribute to these studies by sharing your data with medical researchers and show your support to the upcoming Apple healthcare generations.
My two cents
Of all the leading tech companies, Apple’s progress has been quite impressive. On this World Health Day, let us ensure to show some support to the company’s vision, do our part and promise healthier well-being. Let’s pledge to cater to a world devoid of physical and mental problems.
I am trying to do my part, are you?
Author
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