Apple moving into healthcare
Recently a man was going to bike with his father. However, instead of meeting his father he received a text message sent by his father’s Apple Watch: “Detected a Hard Fall” along with the location of his father. It was not far away from the man, so he drove there. Once arrived, his father was nowhere to be seen. Again the man received a text message. It included the changed location of his father, now at the nearby hospital. Apparently, the watch called an ambulance, that brought his father to the hospital. This happened all while his father was unconsciousness. This feature is called ‘HARD FALL’ detection (Facebook.com, 2019).
Nowadays Apple gives its customers the opportunity to be more connected than ever via devices and apps. The hardware along with the software gives the consumer the opportunity to provide the owner with different data. For example, it can monitor the distance you walk and your heartbeat. All devices automatically report back. This way Apple can provide its large userbase health services.
Apple is also building new components into their existing devices to focus more on health care. Recently Apple filed a patent for a camera, ambient light sensor, and proximity sensor. These techniques combined can measure changes in blood flows. This again can be used for more medical insights (CB Insights Research, 2019).
Apart from complex technological advances in consumer health care, Apple is also trying to change how medical records are stored. By creating Health Records Apple tries to bring different healthcare organizations into one application. That way data can be retrieved from one single location. This is far more efficient compares to how it’s done nowadays with data stored in different silo’s (Apple Newsroom, 2019).
According to Morgan Stanley Apple could emerge as a leader in the consumer health industry by disrupting it. This opportunity is valued between $15 billion and $313 billion. This gives Apple the opportunity to grow beyond its current valuation (Fortune, 2019).
Sources:
Apple Newsroom. (2019). Apple announces solution bringing health records to iPhone. [online] Available at: https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2018/01/apple-announces-effortless-solution-bringing-health-records-to-iPhone/ [Accessed 24 Sep. 2019].
CB Insights Research. (2019). Apple Is Going After The Healthcare Industry, Starting With Personal Health Data. [online] Available at: https://www.cbinsights.com/research/apple-healthcare-strategy-apps/ [Accessed 24 Sep. 2019].
Facebook.com. (2019). Gabe Burdett. [online] Available at: https://www.facebook.com/theburdetts/posts/10214583646975103 [Accessed 24 Sep. 2019].
Fortune. (2019). Apple’s Healthcare Take Could Be $313 Billion by 2027, Analysts Say. [online] Available at: https://fortune.com/2019/04/08/apple-healthcare-apple-watch/ [Accessed 24 Sep. 2019].
Hi Niels! Thank you for the insightful article. The topics you discuss definitely relate back to the platform ecosystems discussed in class. While the example you give sounds like Apple really only wants to improve the health of their customers I think it is also very interesting what this high-level of interconnectedness means to us as a society. To me it is scary that a few big companies could know more about me and my behaviour than my closest friends or partner. What do you think?
Hi Mariella, thanks for your reply! I definitely agree with you. However, privacy is key to Apple’s survival. Tim Cook, apple’s CEO also actively engages in discussions around privacy. For now, I totally trust Apple.
Hi Niels, thank you for sharing this post!
These technological innovations definitely have its perks, as it has proven to help this man in your example.
However, there also might be some disadvantages too, for example, what if the Apple watch would have been wrong in its diagnosis? An ambulance would have arrived, even though this man did not need or want one. Who pays for these incurred costs? The insurance company of the man? What if this man does not have insurance?
Furthermore, according to this post: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2018/09/how-the-new-apple-watch-will-call-911-after-a-fall-if-you-want-it-to/, this feature also allows the police to enter your home without a warrant, which could have legal consequences for the owner as a result.
Nonetheless, I believe that this feature on the Apple watch is valuable and useful for cases like the man you described, but disadvantages should be taken into account as well.