Apple moves further into healthcare: A timeline of the past year

In the past year, Apple has increased its healthcare presence by expanding its product capabilities and partnering with leading health centers and research institutions.

Here's a breakdown of Apple's healthcare ventures reported by Becker's Hospital Review. The timeline includes Apple's healthcare moves since June 2019.

June 3, 2019: Apple executives announce at the company's annual developers conference that Apple Watch and iPhone users will soon be able to monitor menstrual cycles and symptoms, hearing health, and activity levels over time.

June 6, 2019: Ruston-based Northern Louisiana Medical Center begins allowing patients to access their medical data through Apple's Health Records app.

June 27, 2019: Some Apple stores begin selling One Drop, a blood glucose monitor that integrates with the iPhone and Apple Watch.

June 28, 2019: Apple begins allowing hospitals and health systems with compatible EHRs to self-register for its health records project, which provides patients access to their health records directly from their iPhone.

July 11, 2019: Apple disables the Walkie-Talkie app on Apple Watches after finding a security glitch that allowed a person to eavesdrop on other iPhone conversations without consent.

July 30, 2019: The University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville begins providing its patients with access to their health records via Apple's Health records app.

Aug. 7, 2019: Apple partners with Eli Lilly to determine whether health data from the iPhone and Apple Watch can detect early signs of dementia and later found that people with cognitive decline typed slower, sent fewer messages and relied more on support apps than the control group.

Aug. 7, 2019: El Dorado-based Medical Center of South Arkansas allows patients to access their medical data on iPhone via Apple's Health Records application.

Aug. 14, 2019: Springdale, Ark.-based Northwest Health begins offering its patients access to their medical information through Apple's Health Records application.

Aug. 22, 2019: Apple Health Records makes itself available to Allscripts Sunrise, TouchWorks and Professional EHR clients and their patients.

Sept. 3, 2019: Quincy, Ill.-based Blessing Health System gives its patients access to their health information on their iPhones through Apple's Health Records feature.

Sept. 27, 2019: Apple taps David Smoley, former AstraZeneca CIO, to serve as its new vice president.

Oct. 3, 2019: Apple Health Records grants access to Meditech's Expanse and 6.0 EHR clients.

Oct. 7, 2019: Devoted Health, a startup health insurer for Medicare plans, begins providing the Apple Watch at a discount as a fitness benefit to its members in Florida.

Oct. 14, 2019: Doylestown (Pa.) Health allows patients to view their health data directly on their iPhones through Apple's Health Records feature.

Oct. 17, 2019: Apple tops Interbrand's annual list of the "Best Global Brands."

Oct. 30, 2019: Apple hires former New York City-based Columbia University Medical Center cardiologist David Tsay, MD, PhD, to join its medical team.

Oct. 30, 2019: Apple reports total revenues of $64 billion for the fiscal fourth quarter, a year-over-year increase of 2 percent that was led by a 54 percent surge in wearable technology.

Oct. 31, 2019: Mishawaka, Ind.-based Franciscan Health announces its partnership with Apple to give patients access to their health data directly on their iPhones.

Nov. 4, 2019: Apple vows to invest $2.5 billion in affordable housing to address California's housing crisis.

Nov. 6, 2019: The Apple Health Records feature for iPhone becomes available to veterans as part of the company's partnership with the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Nov. 13, 2019: Apple publishes a new study, in partnership with Stanford (Calif.) University School of Medicine, indicating its Apple Watch can safely detect heart irregularities.

Nov. 14, 2019: Apple opens enrollment for three health studies, each designed and conducted in partnership with leading academic and research institutions, via its new Research app.

Nov. 15, 2019: Apple removes 181 apps related to vaping from the App Store after the CDC reported surges in e-cigarette or vaping product use-associated lung injury and death.

Dec. 3, 2019: Dover, Del.-based Bayhealth begins offering Apple's Health Records application to patients to streamline access to their available medical data.

Dec. 13, 2019: Apple partners with genetic testing company Color to provide employees with free genetic screenings at Apple's on-site health clinics.

Dec. 27, 2019: Cardiologist Joseph Wiesel, MD, sues Apple, claiming the Apple Watch's irregular heartbeat monitoring tool infringes on a patent he holds for similar technology.

Jan. 9, 2020: Medical tech company Masimo sues Apple, claiming the company stole its noninvasive health monitoring tech to use for the Apple Watch.

Jan. 15, 2020: Apple pays $200 million for Xnor.ai, a Seattle tech company which creates high-powered AI algorithms that require only minimal local power.

Jan. 21, 2020: Apple CEO Tim Cook said the company is working on technology designed to identify health conditions earlier during a question-and-answer session with IDA Ireland CEO Martin Shanahan.

Jan. 23, 2020: Apple Health Vice President Sumbul Desai, MD, insists it's "healthy" to be skeptical about the entrance of big technology companies in the healthcare market during a London roundtable discussion.

Jan. 27, 2020: Apple meets with the CARIN Alliance, a group of more than 85 multisector stakeholders, to discuss its priorities to give patients more opportunity to access their data.

Jan. 28, 2020: Apple reports $91.8 billion in revenue for the first quarter of 2020, highlighting record-high earnings in the company's wearables and services segment, which includes Apple Health Records.

Jan. 30, 2020: Apple is one of 30 organizations to send a letter to HHS and the Office of Management and Budget urging officials to swiftly release the finalized version of HHS' interoperability rules.

Feb. 17, 2020: Apple issues an update to its quarterly guidance announcing that it does not expect to meet the goals it had originally set for the second quarter of the fiscal year, citing that the "worldwide iPhone supply will be temporarily constrained" and the "demand for our products within China has been affected."

Feb. 22, 2020: Warren Buffet discloses that he has a 5.7 percent year-end ownership in Apple stock and dubs the company "the best business I know in the world" in his annual letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders.

Feb. 25, 2020: Apple and Johnson & Johnson open enrollment for their joint "Heartline Study," in which they will test whether the iPhone and Apple Watch can speed detection of atrial fibrillation in users aged 65 and older.

March 5, 2020: Apple begins denying applications in its App Store related to the coronavirus outbreak that aren't released by an official health organization or government.

March 9, 2020: Apple reopens all but four of its 42 stores in mainland China after shutting down its entire retail presence in the country amid the novel coronavirus outbreak.

March 9, 2020: Apple shares plunge 7.9 percent during the day's stock market crash.

March 13, 2020: Apple CEO Tim Cook writes a blog post closing all the company's stores outside China until March 27.

March 14, 2020: Apple announces updates to its application developer guidelines, clarifying the company's requirements for apps that address the coronavirus pandemic.

March 21, 2020: Apple CEO Tim Cook tweets that the company is sourcing "millions of masks" to send to healthcare providers in the U.S. and Europe, and Vice President Mike Pence announces Apple will donate 2 million masks in a news conference.

March 27, 2020: Apple teams up with the White House and CDC to develop a new website and app that offers up-to-date information on the coronavirus pandemic and a screening tool for COVID-19 symptoms.

March 31, 2020: Apple earns a "B" in gender pay equity, according to analysis from investment manager Arjuna Capital and shareholder advocacy group Proxy Impact.

April 5, 2020: Apple CEO Tim Cook pledges the company will produce 1 million face shields a week for front-line workers.

April 9, 2020: Apple partners with Stanford (Calif.) Medicine to build an app that connects first responders in California to drive-thru COVID-19 testing locations.

April 14, 2020: Apple Maps asks providers of COVID-19 tests to register with Apple Maps so it can develop a feature showing users their nearest testing site.

April 14, 2020: Apple CEO Tim Cook is named by President Donald Trump as one of the dozens of executives involved in the White House's task force to reopen the economy.

April 15, 2020: Apple partners with New York's Technology SWAT Teams to launch new COVID-19 self-screening and test-scheduling tools.

April 22, 2020: Apple undergoes scrutiny for a flaw in iPhones' email software that makes them vulnerable to hackers.

April 24, 2020: Apple and Google make security and privacy improvements to their COVID-19 tracing technology, including the ability to share strength and duration of a Bluetooth signal to make better judgments of COVID-19 encounters.

May 20, 2020: Apple and Google launch their interoperable API, designed to measure contact tracing using Bluetooth technology in smartphones, to help public health agencies rapidly track COVID-19 spread and notify individuals exposed to the virus.

June 9, 2020: Apple releases updates to its COVID-19 app and website that allow users to anonymously share information with the CDC.

 

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