Apple is testing HealthKit, a patient data repository software, in more than a dozen top U.S. hospitals aiming to lower costs and promote remote patient monitoring.
Fourteen hospitals are piloting the software, eight of which are on the U.S. News & World Report's Honor Roll list of the best hospitals, according to Reuters. Other software developers, such as Google and Samsung, have released similar software but have yet to announce a major hospital partnership. Reuters did not name the hospitals, but Ochnser Medical Center in New Orleans, Stanford Children's Hospital, Penn Medicine and Duke University Hospital have already spoken publicly about using HealthKit. Johns Hopkins, Mt. Sinai Hospital, The Cleveland Clinic and Beth Israel Deaconess have spoken about the technology, according to MobiHealthNews.
The software collects patient health data such as blood pressure, weight or heart rate from mobile fitness apps, glucose measuring tools and Wi-Fi connected scales, according to Reuters. HealthKit is designed to communicate with several existing EMRs, such as Mayo Clinic's platform or Epic Systems' MyChart app, according to a September 2014 news release from Apple.
The widespread use of Android software to power smartphones may create a need for cross-platform collaboration between Apple and its competitors to best collect patient data from the devices they use.
"How do we get Apple to work with Samsung? I think it will be a problem eventually," Brian Carter, a director focused on personal and population health at Cerner, told Reuters. Cerner's EMR platform can also be integrated with HealthKit.