As more progress is made in finding a cure against Coronavirus, some companies are considering expanding their area of work. One of those companies is Apple, which wants to move into the healthcare field.
Over the last five years, the company created an internal team made of doctors, health coaches, and engineers, which focused on developing health-orientated software and hardware. Moreover, it has medical clinics for its employees. Among the things that are considered useful from a health point of view is the Apple Watch. The device provides activity tracking, heart rate monitoring, fall alerts, electrocardiogram made to detect irregularities of the heart's rhythm.
Also, Apple developed kits for third-parties to build health applications. The most popular is ResearchKit, which enables academics to recruit the people necessary for clinical trials through mobile devices.
At the company level, employees use a system called AC Wellness.
During the pandemic, Apple collaborated with Google and released a contact tracing technology designed for mobile phones. It was used the most in Europe and Asia.
The company announced a partnership with insurers such as Aetna and is considering Medicare private plans meant to subsidize the cost of devices for seniors. Specialists believe it would be a good move for Apple if it will introduce sensors for blood sugar or blood pressure monitors. Experts suggest areas like telemedicine, payment integrations, and food monitoring, validated clinical trials, that could see improvement if Apple decides to expand.
During today’s pre-market trading, Apple stock price increased by 0.75%.
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Sources: cnbc.com, finance.yahoo.com