Apple Launching 'AC Wellness' Medical Clinics for its Employees

[PJivan]

That’s all fine and good. But the fact is they are running a health related study. It is being run under the disguise of a clinic. If you think Apple doesn’t have access to select info from this “study”. I’m sorry.

Is insurance being used. Is Apple acting as an insurance company and paying the bill for the clinics patients? It’s a world based in info. There is no cloud privacy. iPhones are not a secure as people wanted to believe. Why help add personal medical information.

Sorry were does this assumtion come from? Why are you mixing they research with their welness employees service? We could also assume that if and when employes will test it it means it's already FDA approved and product is basically ready to launch.

P.S. external insurance paid by Apple are used like in any other companies, the only difference is they have onsite facilities which is uber cool.

Just slow down on your assumption pedal for a bit

 

[AngerDanger]

Calling it now: a teardown of an AC Wellness clinic (and the employees that use it) will reveal a hidden 14-pin connector, 16GB of solid state storage, and firmware that can predict lottery numbers.

 

[mookc1]

If they operate it like a Genius Bar, the employees are really in for a treat. Even with an appointment at the Genius Bar, you have to wait an additional 30 minutes...Oh wait, Genius Bar....Doctor office, I guess Apple already has that business model nailed.

 

[BeefCake 15]

No it doesn't. It's about taking care of your body, with regard to nutrition, and exercise. I don't need a phone or a watch to tell me its a good idea to stand now. True, the apple watches can help motivate some people, but it all boils down to personal decisions.

Smartphones eventually will be able to track basic health data such as blood pressure, glucose, HR and more which makes up quite a good amount of healthcare spending.
[doublepost=1519735597][/doublepost]I would think hard about holding on to insurance stocks the way many of these companies (Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway, Apple) are going with health coverage...

 

[ThunderSkunk]

How long before they extend that to their users...

 

[miguelcoma]

Something's weird, why would Apple build a website with Squarespace?

 

[aristobrat]

Something's weird, why would Apple build a website with Squarespace?

"AC Wellness is an independent medical practice"... I'd guess that's AC Wellness' website, not Apple's.

 

[cmichaelb]

Did anyone else read the headline and think 'AC Wellness' had something to do with the battery issue?

 

[jjhny]

The future of everyday health really lies in the future of our smartphones and peripheral technology

Actually your health is mostly genetic. And then you can vary that by not destroying yourself with overuse of drugs, alcohol. You should also not sit in front of a computer all day long.

 

[EdRed]

Hmmm. Does this involve some sort of eel juice therapy?

 

[miguelcoma]

"AC Wellness is an independent medical practice"... I'd guess that's AC Wellness' website, not Apple's.

Makes sense. Thanks

 

[Yvan256]

The author of that website/image someone doesn't know about the necessity to have a good contrast between the text and the background.

At the size it is, the title is fine. But that tiny text below it is hard to read because of the background.

 

[Boatboy24]

I have mixed feelings on this. I already feel my employer is too involved in my healthcare, and benefits get worse each year. I'm a relatively healthy person who exercises regularly and has generally very good 'numbers'. Many others aren't and pay much higher premiums as a result. My premiums didn't get any better when the company (or provider) started monitoring such things, but for many, they got much worse. Getting off topic. I'll stop now.

 

[CPTmom2wp]

The studies sound great and the results can help both end users and health care practitioners use personal tech to improve health outcomes.

The concierge medicine......not so much. Cook, Warren Buffet, Jamie Dimon(JPMorgan Chase) and other big corporate executives have been planning to come out with full medical care for their employees. No insurance necessary. The problem with corporate concierge medicine is that the doctors, nurses, etc. are paid much more than anywhere else, so the corporations can hire the best and brightest healthcare practitioners available anywhere.

If these large corporations are paying a premium for the best health care practitioners to work for them (better salary, better benefits, much better working hours.....and Apple has the $$$ to do that), then those quality doctors are no longer available to the rest of us to hire for our health care needs, e.g., Cardiologists.

I would guess that this move to isolate the best health care providers within the corporation would also help Apple, Berkshire Hathaway, and JP Morgan Chase recruit employees away from their competition by promising free cradle to grave health care benefits of better quality than they could get anywhere else.

 

[RickInHouston]

So essentially Apple plans to use its employees as guinea pigs?

Young employees that are usually quite healthy won't be of use to a program such as this.

Older employees will / should stay away from this like the plague so as to not have their employer monitor their chronic (read expensive) health cost to the company.

 

[deanthedev]

Health will be the next industry Apple breaks into.

Or do people think HealthKit, ResearchKit and CareKit are things Apple created “just for the fun”?
[doublepost=1519741211][/doublepost]

No it doesn't. It's about taking care of your body, with regard to nutrition, and exercise. I don't need a phone or a watch to tell me its a good idea to stand now. True, the apple watches can help motivate some people, but it all boils down to personal decisions.

So you can tell if your heartbeat is slightly abnormal (for example)?

Having a small, inexpensive device that can monitor all sorts of body functions and alert to issues before they become severe IS the future of healthcare.
[doublepost=1519741648][/doublepost]

So essentially Apple plans to use its employees as guinea pigs?

Yes, for things like gathering health data or storing those records/data and other administrative tasks.

Not for testing new drugs or medical procedures.

 

[Solomani]

Hmmm… I realize this as a very very early test pilot for Apple dabbling into public health care coverage.

And it's not just Apple. Even Google and Amazon are doing it. Why are the largest/wealthiest tech companies doing it? Dabbling in health care services? One answer: because the government and traditional medical care institutions (HMOs, PPOs, Insurance companies) have failed the American people. Health care in the USA is terribly expensive, and coverage is spotty.

To be honest, I don't blame them (Apple, Amazon and other tech companies). They understand that when there is a need (for good affordable national health services), then there is a market, there is a future service industry that can be "sold".


Apple Is Joining Amazon and Warren Buffett in the Health Care Business

 

[timborama]

Employees = guinea pigs.

 

[citysnaps]

How are Foxconn workers doing these days

With Foxconn being an independent company that dozens of companies use for contract manufacturing around the world, and headquartered in another country with a different set of laws no less, how is that relevant or interesting?

 

[Wowereit]

Ask Foxcon or government that allow it.

I don't understand why Microsoft, Sony, Apple, Nokia, Amazon, Dell, Acer, Cisco, Google, HP and so on should be responsible for it.

I've been to China multiple times and as far as my understanding goes, Foxconn employees are lower middle class with matching working conditions.

If you'd apply western standards on absolutely everything, your iPhone would be 4 times more expensive.
Forget Foxconn, how about supply of cobalt, lithium and other base materials?

You can do this pretty much indefinitely.
At the end you would reach a point where all those people wouldn't make a living at all, because their jobs are only profitable up to a certain point.

 

[kaneda]

Thanks Amazon...

 

[CPTmom2wp]

Hmmm… I realize this as a very very early test pilot for Apple dabbling into public health care coverage.

And it's not just Apple. Even Google and Amazon are doing it. Why are the largest/wealthiest tech companies doing it? Dabbling in health care services? One answer: because the government and traditional medical care institutions (HMOs, PPOs, Insurance companies) have failed the American people. Health care in the USA is terribly expensive, and coverage is spotty.

To be honest, I don't blame them (Apple, Amazon and other tech companies). They understand that when there is a need (for good affordable national health services), then there is a market, there is a future service industry that can be "sold".

My understanding is that they are only interested in providing medical services for their own employees, primarily as a cost saving measure and as a way to keep employees from taking so much time for sick leave for doctor's appointments. Health insurance costs have skyrocketed and they have discovered that it is cheaper for them to hire top quality health care providers and clinics than it is to provide HI coverage for them. This way they can save money by only providing, at most, catastrophic coverage. It's not about altruism, but about making more money for the corporation.

Young employees that are usually quite healthy won't be of use to a program such as this.

Older employees will / should stay away from this like the plague so as to not have their employer monitor their chronic (read expensive) health cost to the company.

Agreed. I wonder how much of the information will remain private. HIPPA was instituted to prevent medical and psychiatric information from being used against you, particularly in the workplace, e.g., overweight?, smoke?, depressed?, have diabetes?, have a family history of cancer?. Any of those things might affect your chances at a promotion or raise.

 

[Osamede]

It's unfortunate that the world's richest company is more focused on commodifying healthcare and turning it into a luxury good, than publicly throwing all it's weight behind a push to make healthcare a basic social infrastructure for all in the country.

 

[Rogifan]

It's unfortunate that the world's richest company is more focused on commodifying healthcare and turning it into a luxury good, than publicly throwing all it's weight behind a push to make healthcare a basic social infrastructure for all in the country.

How is commodifying something turning it into a luxury good? Isn’t that an oxymoron?

 

[DocMultimedia]

As health care becomes more and more tied to having a full time job (here in America), good health care will become an incentive for companies that offer it. The lack of affordable health insurance/health care is leading American down a dark path.

I find it very depressing that the USA doesn't think health is important for all.