Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Col4bin

macrumors 68000
Oct 2, 2011
1,887
1,572
El Segundo
Your understanding of the point of care diagnostics market is flawed and your prediction is based on nothing but your personal feeling. A great way to predict what will happen!

I'm a bit surprised because your other posts usually demonstrate or present insight..

I think he's speaking strictly from the end user side. It's been proven that the majority of people on a daily basis will not sit there and record how much and what types of exercises they've done, duration/weight involved in these exercises and/or reps, distances they've walked/run/ridden, how much and what kind of foods they've consumed, their BP reading, try to calculate their caffeine and sugar intake, etc... There are plenty of apps available that already do this, and we don't see them exactly taking off. My Fitness Pal is a great app, but it takes a lot of dedication to keep it updated on a daily basis. Most "healthy" people just don't find the time.
 
Last edited:

bushido

Suspended
Mar 26, 2008
8,070
2,755
Germany
"Sry Sir. you havent used ur iphone enough in the past and therefore we ask u kindly to pay the 10.000$ treatment out of your own pocket within the next two weeks. kind regards"
 

DavidWillis

macrumors newbie
Aug 12, 2014
1
0
Share for Care - a UK NHS perspective

The sort of information potentially availabe could revolutionise healthcare.

At this point integration with National NHS systems would be expensive and bearing in mind not everybody uses the national systems, potentialy would not produce the results required.

However there are lots of local initatives trying to get patients involved in their care, integration of data into these smaller systems would face less development restrictions, and ongoing work to tie everything up into the bigger view of an individual patients health and care would in turn do the rest.

Time for Apple to engage with local health organisations? :)
 

Aniseedvan

macrumors 65816
May 14, 2012
1,251
402
UK
It will be interesting to see how this succeeds where google health didn't. I can't see how even at a local level in the uk it would get past NPfit/connecting for health/whatever it's called this week...
 

Rogifan

macrumors Penryn
Nov 14, 2011
24,084
31,015
I love how everyone predicts something as a failure before it's even been announced. I guess that's par for the course with Apple. :)
 

dagamer34

macrumors 65816
May 1, 2007
1,359
101
Houston, TX
Only issue: the usefulness of HealthKit is solely dependent on the quality of data devices give it, which is the big can of worms I've yet to see Apple touch.
 

JHankwitz

macrumors 68000
Oct 31, 2005
1,911
58
Wisconsin
Medical software companies have been fighting to set 'their' standards for use world-wide for many years. It will be interesting to see if Apple can finally pull it off. They can likely do it if they don't overcharge for licensing its use. Making it free for implementation by the industry, but license its use to hardware providers might work.
 

Mtmspa

Suspended
May 13, 2013
1,006
784
I feel like the people who would benefit from having health monitorered are already monitoring it with their own apps or third party equipment.

The main metrics that need to be monitored are food intake, exercise and blood pressure all of which are hard to do or tedious. It's a shame this will be a flop and another app that will never get used.

Apple didn't consult you before developing this? Email Tim and have him shut this down now. Who cares what you "feel"? How about facts?
 

peterdevries

macrumors 68040
Feb 22, 2008
3,146
1,135
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
I think he's speaking strictly from the end user side. It's been proven that the majority of people on a daily basis will not sit there and record how much and what types of exercises they've done, duration/weight involved in these exercises and/or reps, distances they've walked/run/ridden, how much and what kind of foods they've consumed, their BP reading, try to calculate their caffeine and sugar intake, etc... There are plenty of apps available that already do this, and we don't see them exactly taking off. My Fitness Pal is a great app, but it takes a lot of dedication to keep it updated on a daily basis. Most "healthy" people just don't find the time.

I see your reasoning but it is incorrect. You can see by the supply in the market of new concepts that these kinds of apps and connected devices ARE taking off, although the market is still in its infancy. Look at the fitbit which is immensely popular despite still being a flawed concept. In these cases you shouldn't look at where we are NOW but where the market is going. It is growing at a very rapid pace.

The gain here is not in letting people actively record what they do, but intelligently recognising what the person is doing. I agree that no-one will likely log their food intake for longer than a month, but there are automatic solutions in development that wil be able to do that (e.g. Vessel).

In addition there is an absolutely huge market in terms of point of care diagnostics, such as blood pressure and glucose measurement. People that use these kinds of devices need to do so if they like it or not. The solutions to accurately record and manage the data are still very flawed and a solution provided by Apple that combines a number of these metrics and makes them available to physicians is exactly what the market needs. To give you an indication. The global diabetes market grows by 2.2% every year. By 2030 every tenth person will suffer from the disease. That is a huge market. I work in diabetes point of care devices and patients are waiting for these solutions, but most pharmaceutical manufacturers only focus on the direct measurement and not on the management solutions.
 

ScottNWDW

macrumors 65816
Jul 10, 2008
1,231
315
Orlando, Florida
Based on what I have seen and heard already about HealthKit there is at least one app that does a lot of the same things already. I may be wrong, but based on what I have read, I've been using an app called TACTIO and it tracks a lot of the things that HealthKit already does. TACTIO tracks steps, weight, BMI. Body Fat, Nutrition, Pulse Oximetry,Blood Pressure, Cholesterol, Fasting Glucose. TACTIO pulls in information either by manual entry or by syncing via Bluetooth with your fitness trackers or syncing wirelessly with many fitness devices. I use it with my Fitbit One fitness tracker, iHealth Blood Pressure Monitor, Fitbit Aria Scale and my iHealth Pulse Oximeter.

I look forward to trying out the Health Kit when it is released and hope that it will also track information from all my devices.
 

JHankwitz

macrumors 68000
Oct 31, 2005
1,911
58
Wisconsin
I feel like the people who would benefit from having health monitorered are already monitoring it with their own apps or third party equipment.

The main metrics that need to be monitored are food intake, exercise and blood pressure all of which are hard to do or tedious. It's a shame this will be a flop and another app that will never get used.

Cute!

Same could have been said about the iPod and iPhone. People already had their Walkman's and BlackBerry's, so Apple's products would never get used.

----------

Based on what I have seen and heard already about HealthKit there is at least one app that does a lot of the same things already. I may be wrong, but based on what I have read, I've been using an app called TACTIO and it tracks a lot of the things that HealthKit already does. TACTIO tracks steps, weight, BMI. Body Fat, Nutrition, Pulse Oximetry,Blood Pressure, Cholesterol, Fasting Glucose. TACTIO pulls in information either by manual entry or by syncing via Bluetooth with your fitness trackers or syncing wirelessly with many fitness devices. I use it with my Fitbit One fitness tracker, iHealth Blood Pressure Monitor, Fitbit Aria Scale and my iHealth Pulse Oximeter.

I look forward to trying out the Health Kit when it is released and hope that it will also track information from all my devices.

If there's one thing Apple excels at, it's taking new technologies and making them the best for customer use. Apple has the opportunity to own the medical diagnostic industry just as it has taken ownership of the music industry.
 

maconut

macrumors member
Mar 13, 2014
58
2
USA
I don't think it will be a flop and unused, but unlike some other posters, I agree with the rest of your comments. To displace apps that people are using will be difficult. The rest of the data entry (particularly as related to food) is tedious with most apps. More people will track their food when they can take a picture before eating and get a nutritional analysis of the food on the plate! I don't think even Apple will have that ready by September :p

I feel like the people who would benefit from having health monitorered are already monitoring it with their own apps or third party equipment.

The main metrics that need to be monitored are food intake, exercise and blood pressure all of which are hard to do or tedious. It's a shame this will be a flop and another app that will never get used.
 

northy124

macrumors 68020
Nov 18, 2007
2,293
8
None profit socialized medicine like NHS, and any other health system around the world where profit is not the first & foremost part of the equation will not see HealthKit any time soon.
You say that yet the NHS is a bottomless put of cash so why wouldn't it come to the NHS also the NHS are making use of iPads in some areas and I know a few GPs that attempt to use iPads as well, it's quite possible for the HealthKit to come to the NHS.

I can already see it in some of the private healthcare providers within the UK if not the NHS.
 

Gasu E.

macrumors 603
Mar 20, 2004
5,029
3,145
Not far from Boston, MA.
I've mixed feelings about this. Of course, nothing wrong with providing equipment for doctors and patients in order to provide a 'better' life in the long run but I'm still worried about one single important aspect: security....

.

I'm afraid you have little to fear. Regulatory requirements will make it uneconomic for Apple to commercialize the level of integration discussed in this article.
 

DriveByPoster

macrumors newbie
Dec 31, 2009
16
0
I initially thought to myself that this seemed like a waste of time for Apple until I read the article again and saw that they were going to partner with Epic. Epic is one of if not the most used hospital documenting systems in the US.

However, as someone that has to use Epic everyday, I can tell you that the Epic software is a steaming pile of dung that is painful to use. Every time that I open the program, I wish that I had become a software engineer and it makes me pray for the sweet release that only death can bring. Yes, it is THAT bad and is universally accepted as so.

If Apple really wants to get into the electronic medical record game, their partnership with Epic should include getting some Apple software engineers to revamp the Epic User Interface.
Or Apple could buy Epic, rewrite their code to interface with the new Health Kit and be done with it.
 

fr33 loader

macrumors regular
Jul 25, 2007
207
0
I love how everyone predicts something as a failure before it's even been announced. I guess that's par for the course with Apple. :)


I love how everyone predicts something as a success before it's even been announced. I guess that's par for the course with Apple. :)
 

ScottNWDW

macrumors 65816
Jul 10, 2008
1,231
315
Orlando, Florida
I love how everyone predicts something as a failure before it's even been announced. I guess that's par for the course with Apple. :)

Well, they did say that the iPhone would fail.
Well, they did say the iPad would fail.
Well, they did say that the iPad mini would fail

So if history repeats itself.....
I think HealthKit will fail as much as the iPhone, iPad and iPad mini failed.
:)
 

ScottNWDW

macrumors 65816
Jul 10, 2008
1,231
315
Orlando, Florida
Seems like I'm going to have to input a lot of data for this to be effective.

Every coffee, every snack etc. Can't be bothered.

People are already doing this with a number of apps. I use LoseIt! and it really is quite simple. In fact you can even just scan the package barcode. after a food is in your data base, once you start typing the name it fills in the rest. Then you just choose the quantity. get in the habit of entering the data and it'll be second nature.
 

fithian

macrumors regular
Jul 22, 2002
209
55
Eastern PA
I am somewhat concerned that data collection devices will be approved in any reasonable time frame. Two years ago LifeScan announced the OneTouch Vario Sync glucose meter, which is used to measure glucose using already available strips. This meter uses Bluetooth to connect to an iPhone or iPad using a free app to do so. It took LifeScan over a year to get this concept approved for use. Moveover, although it was reasonably priced at $20, Medicare would not approve it since there were other devices available that were as accurate but did not use Bluetooth, and cost about three times as much. I bought one myself with a prescription which was hard to come by, since the device was not yet listed on the medical device list that is given to physicians. The device is wonderful and has had some recent software upgrades to make it more useful.

Good luck, Apple.
 

peterdevries

macrumors 68040
Feb 22, 2008
3,146
1,135
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
I'm afraid you have little to fear. Regulatory requirements will make it uneconomic for Apple to commercialize the level of integration discussed in this article.

That is incorrect. Regulatory approval is straightforward for devices where measurement is "outsourced" to peripherals. The average approval period is about 6 months (well within Apple product cycles) and costs only a few hundred dollars (well within Apple's budget).
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.