Apple investigated purchase of medical clinic start-up, signals larger push into healthcar...
As part of an intensifying focus on holistic health care and supporting products, Apple was recently in talks to buy health clinic start-up Crossover Health, and approached primary care group One Medical, though the discussions ultimately fell through.
Citing sources familiar with the matter, CNBC reports Apple has been investigating an expansion into primary health care for more than a year. Recent talks with Crossover, which went on for "months," and One Medical could be part of a larger vision that extends far beyond digital fitness devices like Apple Watch.
Crossover currently works with self-insured employers to set up on-site clinics focusing on health and wellness, the report said. Apple and Facebook are among the firm's customers. In addition to large companies, the start-up runs clinics in New York and the San Francisco Bay Area.
Perhaps of interest to Apple is Crossover's backend technology. The start-up's digital platform streamlines patient scheduling, appointment check-ins and notifications through a dedicated app and online interface. Clients also have access to personal health records, an area of intense interest for Apple.
In 2016, Apple was said to have purchased personal health data start-up Gliimpse, which sought to untangle "incomprehensible electronic medial records" and condense them into standardized coded elements. More recently, Apple in June began a partnership with Health Gorilla to bring centralized diagnostic data to its HealthKit and CareKit platforms.
Whether Apple plans to run its own network of primary health care clinics is unknown. As noted by CNBC, a push into primary health care facilities could be a boon for the company's retail stores, and might serve as a plinth for a more advanced Apple Watch device.
With a renewed focus on health and fitness, the latest Apple Watch devices present users with a digital toolset to get and stay healthy. From the onboard heart rate monitor to first-party apps like Stand and Breathe, Apple is zeroing in on the health conscious consumer.
The company's health team is also making moves behind the scenes. Earlier this year, reports claimed Apple is dedicating R&D assets to develop a breakthrough glucose sensor for Apple Watch. Thought to be at work on the project is recent hire Dr. Rajiv Kumar, a pediatric specialist who formerly worked for Stanford Children's Health.
Kumar is just one of many new members to join Apple's growing health team. In June, the company hired Dr. Sumbul Desai, a key figure in Stanford's digital health program, while Duke University researcher Dr. Ricky Bloomfield joined Apple last November.
Citing sources familiar with the matter, CNBC reports Apple has been investigating an expansion into primary health care for more than a year. Recent talks with Crossover, which went on for "months," and One Medical could be part of a larger vision that extends far beyond digital fitness devices like Apple Watch.
Crossover currently works with self-insured employers to set up on-site clinics focusing on health and wellness, the report said. Apple and Facebook are among the firm's customers. In addition to large companies, the start-up runs clinics in New York and the San Francisco Bay Area.
Perhaps of interest to Apple is Crossover's backend technology. The start-up's digital platform streamlines patient scheduling, appointment check-ins and notifications through a dedicated app and online interface. Clients also have access to personal health records, an area of intense interest for Apple.
In 2016, Apple was said to have purchased personal health data start-up Gliimpse, which sought to untangle "incomprehensible electronic medial records" and condense them into standardized coded elements. More recently, Apple in June began a partnership with Health Gorilla to bring centralized diagnostic data to its HealthKit and CareKit platforms.
Whether Apple plans to run its own network of primary health care clinics is unknown. As noted by CNBC, a push into primary health care facilities could be a boon for the company's retail stores, and might serve as a plinth for a more advanced Apple Watch device.
With a renewed focus on health and fitness, the latest Apple Watch devices present users with a digital toolset to get and stay healthy. From the onboard heart rate monitor to first-party apps like Stand and Breathe, Apple is zeroing in on the health conscious consumer.
The company's health team is also making moves behind the scenes. Earlier this year, reports claimed Apple is dedicating R&D assets to develop a breakthrough glucose sensor for Apple Watch. Thought to be at work on the project is recent hire Dr. Rajiv Kumar, a pediatric specialist who formerly worked for Stanford Children's Health.
Kumar is just one of many new members to join Apple's growing health team. In June, the company hired Dr. Sumbul Desai, a key figure in Stanford's digital health program, while Duke University researcher Dr. Ricky Bloomfield joined Apple last November.
Comments
This seems to me like Apple wants to strength its own health team while at the same time getting real world experience. The Health Care Industry is huge and complex, if Apple can better understand how a real live clinic functions, the better their health focus products can be.
And Apple has to acquire clinics to be able to do that? Seems to me they’d be better off partnering. I work for a large health insurance company that has a huge data analytics arm. That’s who Apple should partner with if they want to dip their toe deeper into the heath care waters.
As someone who's designed Holter monitors, I don't recommend underestimating the value of even crude rhythm (or morphology, if possible) monitoring over very long periods of time. No company has ever been in a position to do this. If Apple doesn't grab that brass ring, someone else will.
It's an industry ripe for major disruption, especially coming from the consumer side as a way to insert itself into the industry.
A company like Apple could make a huge difference here and build an ever stronger moat; privacy is really important in that sector and Android is not ready to go there at all and likely won't be for a while.
The fact Apple controls so much of the hardware/system/software stack means they can create things no one else can.
And, for once, calling Jobs name would means something cause he's specifically was pretty disturbed by what he saw when dealing with the current mess of tech/software that he had to used. He wanted to improve the experience of people caring for their health and once they are sick, being treated.
Carrying Jobs spirit would in fact continuing a strong focus on improving people's lives in those areas.
That those areas could be areas that are very lucrative and ready for disruption is just icing on the cake.
That’s the thing, none of us knows exactly how Apple is viewing this. I think a partnership would be best also, but I’m not in a decision making position at Apple, my view at best is myopic. I see what you’re saying about the data analytics arm but having just data is not always the best. I used to be an analyst at huge hospital, how a hospital board of directors sees things is vastly different from how doctors view things. Even how doctors view things is vastly different from the people who really keep things going in a hospital, the nurses see things. Having those points of view, I think would help Apple
Apple's DNA is about changing the system before the system thinks it needs changing.
This is like Apple Stores. At the time, everyone said technology store fronts were dying against the 'Dell' and 'Amazon' models.
I seen 'primary healthcare' as the later to 'think different'. To do this, you will need 'retail' clinics to exploit this model (busy people, close to people... like corp-located healthcare services). I see consideration of this purchase is trying to change the model of healthcare from 'acute episodic' care, to 'continual care/wellness monitoring/coaching' and most likely, building a whole new model of PMR (one not owned by the clinic, but one that is fully owned by you [in the cloud]). Walking into the office with 2 months of BP or the last 12 hours of temp and heart rate, and eventually, ekg, blood sugars, ketones, will move 'specialist' level data collection to a PA/NP reviewing the data remotely and adjusting Rx and dosing via telemedicine, with follow-ups being done at Primary Care CoPays over a lunch hour vs a 2 hour trip to a specialist.