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Apple Hires Duke Doctor on Forefront of Implementing HealthKit and ResearchKit

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Apple has hired Duke's Dr. Ricky Bloomfield, one of the early proponents of both HealthKit and ResearchKit, for its health team, according to MobiHealthNews. The hiring was first announced by Dr. Bloomfield's colleague on Twitter and confirmed by Apple to MobiHealthNews.

As Duke's Director of Mobile Strategy, Dr. Bloomfield helped Duke become one of the first hospitals to integrate HealthKit. Bloomfield has spoken about the benefits of HealthKit multiple times, like at 2014's mHealth Summit and announcing at a MobiHealthNews event that Apple was adding support for Health Level 7 Continuity of Care Document to iOS 10.

Bloomfield, who created Autism Beyond, also helped Duke embrace ResearchKit, creating a study intended to find out how autism starts in children. The study uses an app that utilizes the iPhones camera to record children's reactions to short videos. The app analyzes the recordings and sends the data back to doctors to help tune the algorithm, with the goal to eventually let the app help parents screen children for autism, anxiety, or similar conditions.

The new hire is just one of several for Apple's health team recently. In September, Apple hired Toronto doctor Mike Evans "to help chart the future of family medicine." Evans also has a popular YouTube channel, DocMikeEvans, where he narrates discussions about health over cartoon drawings. Apple has also hired Stanford doctor Rajiv B. Kumar, who has experience using HealthKit to help patients with diabetes, and Dr. Stephen Friend, who helped build the data infrastructure for many ResearchKit apps.

While Bloomfield will work on Apple's health team, it's unclear what his role could entail.

Article Link: Apple Hires Duke Doctor on Forefront of Implementing HealthKit and ResearchKit
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2016/11/01/apple-hires-duke-doctor-healthkit-researchkit/
orbital~debris

orbital~debris

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Carlanga

Carlanga

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Meh. Not where they must take the iPhone. HealthKit so far has been a flop, doubt these doctors can help.

To me it seems to me that Apple wants to try to take over the medical accessory market, highly doubt it will work.
 
orbital~debris

orbital~debris

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Mar 3, 2004
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Carlanga said:
Meh. Not where they must take the iPhone. HealthKit so far has been a flop, doubt these doctors can help.

To me it seems to me that Apple wants to try to take over the medical accessory market, highly doubt it will work.
Click to expand...

macfacts said:
^ this is how many people care about Heath features on their watch or phone.
Click to expand...

Some pretty narrow-minded mentality on display in this thread.

Consider that maybe, people making use of HealthKit & ResearchKit or the possibilities it unlocks are getting on with it and not posting here.

If you happen to be a patient with a condition that's covered by a treatment programme with a HealthKit / ResearchKit app, and are being treated at a facility that's hooked into that programme, your doctor has likely made you aware of the opportunity to participate.

Meanwhile, resultant data has been flowing in to improve the quality of the research. The greater the quantity of quality data, the more likely some good can come of it.

I'm not saying Apple's position is 100% altruistic (they may well wish to do what they can to improve medical tools/sensing equipment/data collectors etc. - for profit), but given the sincerity on display whenever they've talked about their (collaborative) Health initiative, I believe their desire to help is first and foremost, and heartfelt.
 
Carlanga

Carlanga

macrumors 604
Nov 5, 2009
7,132
1,409
orbital~debris said:
Some pretty narrow-minded mentality on display in this thread.

Consider that maybe, people making use of HealthKit & ResearchKit or the possibilities it unlocks are getting on with it and not posting here.

If you happen to be a patient with a condition that's covered by a treatment programme with a HealthKit / ResearchKit app, and are being treated at a facility that's hooked into that programme, your doctor has likely made you aware of the opportunity to participate.

Meanwhile, resultant data has been flowing in to improve the quality of the research. The greater the quantity of quality data, the more likely some good can come of it.

I'm not saying Apple's position is 100% altruistic (they may well wish to do what they can to improve medical tools/sensing equipment/data collectors etc. - for profit), but given the sincerity on display whenever they've talked about their (collaborative) Health initiative, I believe their desire to help is first and foremost, and heartfelt.
Click to expand...
Not narrow minded but real. Their desire to help is driven by $ nothing more.
 
Even Longer

Even Longer

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Dec 12, 2012
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HealthKit replaces First Aid Kit with generic smiling e̶m̶o̶j̶i̶ face.
Project this on to the Apple's entire professional Mac portfolio. Vapourware? No. Innovation! Designed by Apple in California. Made in China.
 
S

Sandybox

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Jul 30, 2016
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This rabbit hole will go the way of the car, loads of rumors, Cook talking it up and then quietly fade to background. Apple will never participate in the medical market to a large extent as they will never want to touch the associated liabilities and regulatory frameworks.
 
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