Apple Looking To Turn HealthKit App Bundle Into Diagnostic Tool, And Not Just For Tracking

Apple apparently has plans to transform its HealthKit app bundle into something more than just a tracking tool, but into a complete diagnostic tool that collates fitness and health related information that can be used to provide medical advice. According to Bloomberg, the iPhone maker has been busy assembling a team consisting of health care experts over the last few years. These experts have been working together in developing an electronic record system capable of sophisticated medical data analytics and which medical professionals and patients alike can utilize for health care purposes.

Apple had first unveiled its HealthKit platform about a couple of years ago. At that time, HealthKit was more of a tracking tool, collecting information from wearable devices, mainly by working with the Health mobile app. But moving forward, it is obvious that Apple has far bigger things in mind for HealthKit. 

A series of mobile apps will play an integral part in the evolution of the HealthKit app bundle. These apps are envisioned to allow the Apple Watch to collect even more sophisticated information, including evaluating fitness levels by measuring the time it takes for a user to revert back to their normal resting heart rate at rest from undergoing any form of strenuous activity. Those familiar with the Apple Watch already know that the wearable device already comes with a built in heart rate sensor, but with the new apps, the sensor will be tasked to do more than just measure the heart rate.

The key in the diagnostics part is how to take all of that fitness and health related data and process them into something that can be used by health care professionals and even the patients themselves. This is where secure accessibility plays a part, and Apple is planning to make the information saved in the HealthKit software to be safely shared and even transmitted between health care establishments. Some may remember that last month, Apple had completed its acquisition of a startup called Gliimpse, which specializes in retrieving electronic health records from different sources and then save them in one, safe repository.

The HealthKit software platform could also be another source of revenue, albeit indirectly. If a user’s health records can only be accessible through a mobile device made by Apple, then it makes sense for that user to stick to an iPhone or iPad, as opposed to getting a handset powered by Android, for instance.