Apple partners with Color to provide free genetics tests to employees

Apple is working with Color, a genetic testing company, to provide its employees with free genetic screenings for diseases in the tech giant's onsite health clinics, according to a Dec. 13 CNBC report.

Apple teamed up with Color months ago on the initiative, which aims to move healthcare at Apple's AC Wellness clinics from "reactive to proactive," according to the report. Last February, Apple announced its plans to launch AC Wellness, a group of primary care clinics for Apple employees and their families.

Color does not sell its tests directly to consumers, so clinicians at AC Wellness must prescribe the genetics test to Apple employees and offer follow-up consultations after they get their results. The genetics company allows physicians to order the whole test or specific parts of it, depending on the patient's medical factors. Some of the gene mutations Color tests for are associated with cancer and cardiovascular disease, in addition to ancestry information. 

Since its launch in 2018, AC Wellness has opened various medical centers on the Apple Park campus in Cupertino, Calif., and in Santa Clara, Calif. Clinicians that work for the provider are not employees of Apple, but they exclusively treat Apple employees and their dependents, according to the report. A separate legal subsidiary of Apple runs the administrative part of the business to comply with regulations mandating that employers don't have direct access to employees' sensitive health information.

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