14 Major U.S. Hospitals Now Using HealthKit as Apple Adds Health Industry Advisors

healthkit-logo Fourteen major U.S. hospitals have rolled out their own trials of Apple's HealthKit tool, with the pilot program earning praise among doctors for its ease of use and advanced tracking of various health metrics, reports Reuters.

According to the news agency, eight hospitals trying out HealthKit are on the U.S. News & World Report's Honor Roll which ranks the best hospitals, with the program seeing more of a positive reaction versus health tracking programs by Google and Samsung.

Ochsner Medical Center in New Orleans has been working with Apple and Epic Systems, Ochsner's medical records vendor, to roll out a pilot program for high-risk patients. The team is already tracking several hundred patients who are struggling to control their blood pressure. The devices measure blood pressure and other statistics and send it to Apple phones and tablets.

"If we had more data, like daily weights, we could give the patient a call before they need to be hospitalized," said Chief Clinical Transformation Officer Dr. Richard Milani.

Apple said that over 600 developers are integrating HealthKit into their health and fitness apps. The company has also hired Rana and John Halamaka, who act as two informal industry advisors that focus on health data privacy and industry introduction. Last September, it was reported that Duke University and Stanford University Hospital had begun trials with HealthKit, with representatives from both hospitals speaking highly about the program's convenience for patients and doctors.

Apple introduced HealthKit alongside the new Health app in iOS 8 as a part of a new initiative into health and fitness tracking. HealthKit taps into data from the iPhone's various sensors along with compatible accessories to provide a more comprehensive picture of a user's health. The upcoming Apple Watch will also contain a number of sensors and health tracking features that seamlessly integrate with the Health app.

Tag: Reuters
Related Forum: iOS 8

Popular Stories

2024 iPhone Boxes Feature

Apple Changes Trade-In Values for iPhones, iPads, Macs, and More

Thursday January 16, 2025 6:45 am PST by
Apple today adjusted estimated trade-in values for select iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch models in the U.S., according to its website. Some values increased, while others decreased. The changes were not too significant, with most values rising or dropping by $5 to $50. We have outlined some examples below: Device New Value Old Value iPhone 15 Pro Max Up to $630 U ...
Generic iOS 19 Feature Mock Light

iOS 19 Leak Reveals All-New Design

Friday January 17, 2025 2:42 pm PST by
iOS 19 is still around six months away from being announced, but a new leak has allegedly revealed a completely redesigned Camera app. Based on footage it obtained, YouTube channel Front Page Tech shared a video showing what the new Camera app will apparently look like, with the key change being translucent menus for camera controls. Overall, the design of these menus looks similar to...
Generic iOS 18

Everything New in iOS 18.3 Beta 3

Thursday January 16, 2025 12:39 pm PST by
Apple provided the third beta of iOS 18.3 to developers today, and while the betas have so far been light on new features, the third beta makes some major changes to Notification Summaries and also tweaks a few other features. Notification Summary Changes Apple made multiple changes to Notification Summaries in response to complaints about inaccurate summaries of news headlines. For...
iPhone 17 Slim Feature Single Camera 1 Redux

'iPhone 17 Air' Launching Later This Year With These 10 New Features

Wednesday January 15, 2025 7:16 am PST by
While the so-called "iPhone 17 Air" is not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the "ultra-thin" device. Overall, the "iPhone 17 Air" is shaping up to be a mixed bag. Due to its thinness, the device is expected to have some limited specifications compared to the iPhone 17 Pro models, including only a single rear camera, only a single speaker, no SIM...
iPhone 17 Pro Dual Tone Horizontal Single Feature

iPhone 17 Rumored to Feature Major Thermal Design Upgrade

Friday January 17, 2025 4:33 am PST by
The iPhone 17 lineup will feature a vapor chamber heatsink to improve thermal performance, according to a new report. The news comes from Chinese tech news site MyDrivers, which claims that the entire iPhone 17 lineup, consisting of the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max, will adopt the improved thermal heat spreader. Vapor chamber technology is already used...
iPad Pro vs iPhone 17 Air Feature

Here's How Thin the iPhone 17 Air Might Be

Friday January 17, 2025 3:38 pm PST by
For the last several months, we've been hearing rumors about a redesigned version of the iPhone 17 that Apple might call the iPhone 17 "Air," or something along those lines. It's going to replace the iPhone 17 Plus as Apple's fourth iPhone option, and it will be offered alongside the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max. We know the iPhone 17 Air is going to be super slim, but...
HomePod mini and Apple TV

Apple Expected to Launch 20+ Products This Year: Here's the Full List

Friday January 17, 2025 5:30 am PST by
2025 promises to be quite a big year for Apple, with the company rumored to be planning more than 20 product announcements this year. Apple's rumored smart home hub will be its second all-new product to launch in as many years, following the Apple Vision Pro headset last year. And of course, we will get several new iPhone and Apple Watch models, like every year. Beyond that, Apple could...
iOS 19 Alleged Camera App Render

iOS 19 Rumored to Feature Redesigned Camera App Inspired by visionOS

Friday January 17, 2025 1:48 pm PST by
iOS 19 will feature a redesigned Camera app inspired by visionOS, according to a new video from Jon Prosser, host of the YouTube channel Front Page Tech. A re-created render of iOS 19's redesigned Camera app (Credit: Front Page Tech) Prosser obtained video of the alleged new Camera app, but he elected to share his own re-created images to protect his sources. The images reveal that the app...

Top Rated Comments

HobeSoundDarryl Avatar
130 months ago
Per the "I'm only going to shop at stores that accept :apple:pay" mentality, how long until we get "I'm only going to get medical services from health institutions that use health kit"?

"Sir, you've been in an accident and we're getting you to the nearest hospital"

"Do they use Apple's health kit?"

"I don't think so"

"Take me to a different hospital then- one that does use health kit"

"But sir, these injuries are life threatening"

"If I die, I die. Got to be a health kit hospital or forget it"... "Oh, and they need to accept payment via Apple Pay too".

All ;)
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
surfingarbo Avatar
130 months ago
Excellent. The hospital my wife works at is switching to Epic so I hope that means they'll be Ina. Good position to support Apple Health.

Wow; Someone on this forum has a wife?!?

/s
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
maflynn Avatar
130 months ago
Looks like there's some hospitals here in Boston that are trying to incorporate this - cool.

Looks more like some vertical type solutions that meet their needs more then perhaps apps directed towards the general population.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
2457282 Avatar
130 months ago
Anthem just reported a security breach which exposed 80 million members. Yes these HealthKit thingies are cool. But seriously, we need to get security and privacy fixed first. I dont need my medical data or xrays of my... whatever... being stolen and sold.

If they can do this with airtight security, then okay, but too often privacy and security is an add on or afterthought
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Zxxv Avatar
130 months ago
In first with the age old saying

an apple a day keeps the doctor away
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Pagemakers Avatar
130 months ago
This doesn't matter... It's a start and Apple now has it's hands/ears in these 14 hospitals. When 8 of these hospitals say "you know what? This is great but if we had insight into X we could help care for patients with Y." Now Apple knows what is necessary to make the product better and get it into another 14 hospitals. ;)

Or it could mean that after almost 12 months it’s not really catching on.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)