There was already some buzz around the idea that Apple would be bringing out a new healthcare app, but the word around Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) was just slightly off. While originally, the word was that Apple's healthcare app would be known as “Healthbook”, the actual app that emerged was known simply as “Health”. But Health didn't come alone, and the combination of the new pieces from Apple should go a long way in terms of helping Apple users get healthy.
There were some differences between the early descriptions of Healthbook and how Health actually turned out, but much of what was originally projected seems to have come to pass. Health, according to Apple, is meant to be more like a dashboard system for various points of health-related data, particularly in terms of fitness goals. It can actually read data from several different sources, including not just how many calories were burned, but also how many were ingested in the first place. There are spaces within health to address issues of medication, of sleep, of vital sign measures and more, making Health a fairly complete overall picture of health.
There's also an “emergency card” space where users can note things like allergies, emergency contact information, and even blood type, the kind of thing that first responders would find extremely useful in stabilizing a patient for a hospital trip. It can even be displayed as part of a lock screen on an iPhone, so that the second the phone is seen, so too is the most important health-related information.
But there will be more to come in the Health realm for Apple, as it also showed off HealthKit, said to be the developers' tool for Health that allows the data found in Health to be shared with other apps. This has significant potential in its own right, a point not lost on Mayo Clinic CEO Dr. John H. Noseworthy. The Mayo Clinic is, at last report, actually working with both Apple and HealthKit to create an app that not only monitors blood pressure, but also automatically sends notifications to doctors when the pressure reaches a certain point. Noseworthy noted that the HealthKit system could “...revolutionize how the health industry interacts with people,” a projection that makes its share of sense. Nike is also reportedly working with Apple on this one, to further open up the possibilities.
What immediately comes to mind is how an application like this could interact with the still-projected iWatch, Apple's entry into the wearable technology field. Something like that could represent the connection point between vital sign tracking and the app in question, with heart rate, blood pressure, skin temperature and the like proceeding into the app. It could be used as the point for tracking sleep patterns, exercise engaged in, or anything else. But what's almost more interesting than that is the fact that there's what amounts to a software development kit for this system. Who knows what could be generated when the app making community gets in on the action? Just what we know so far is almost staggering in its depth; what could be realized from all those developers working in concert could be even more so.
This indeed may be the beginning of a revolution between the healthcare industry and those who turn to it. It's already got a lot of room to be big, and it looks to only get bigger.
Edited by
Maurice Nagle
