Apple is not afraid to launch new products and services as it is gradually expanding its list. However, is now reported that Apple was planning to launch its own Healthcare service in 2016 with ‘Apple Doctors.’ The report cites that Apple was looking to open its own clinics with doctors employed by the company. The doctors would use the health and fitness data gathered by the Apple Watch and iPhone.
Apple Had Planned to Introduce its Own Healthcare Clinics With Doctors But It Did Not Fall Through
While the company did not go through the plan, it did ramp up its research into the health and fitness segment. Apple Health was launched back in 2014 and since then the company has been adding more features to the platform. The detailed report from The Wall Street Journal claims that Apple had plans to launch its own healthcare service with Apple-hired doctors and subscription plans. The report further states that the project was halted “due to internal conflicts.”
Due to the conflict, Apple redirected its employees to make health and fitness-centric products such as the Apple Watch and its apps. Back in 2016, Apple COO, Jeff Williams told its employees to devise a system that would “disrupt” the United States’ fee-for-service method. What this means is that Jeff William asked its employees to make a system through which will restrain its users to not see a doctor until ‘something goes wrong.’ His team came up with the idea to ‘provide medical service of its own.’
“[The service would be] linking data generated by Apple devices with virtual and in-person care provided by Apple doctors. Apple would offer primary care, but also continuous health monitoring as part of a subscription-based personalized health program, according to these people and the documents.”
Apple started testing its clinics turned testbeds near Apple Park and the testing continues to this day. The plan has not moved past the “preliminary stage.” Apple employed Dr. Sumbal Desai from Standford University to run the project and her unit “discourages critical feedback.”
“Some employees expressed concerns that internal data about the clinics’ performance, data that was recently used to support the rollout of a new digital health app, has been inaccurate or compiled haphazardly, according to the documents and people familiar with the data.”
At this point in time, there is no word if Apple will launch its own healthcare clinics. The company might move on to the next step to debut its healthcare service in the future. We will share more details on the scene as soon as we have further information.
What are your thoughts on Apple’s plans to launch its own healthcare clinics? Let us know in the comments.
The post Report: Apple Planned to Launch its Own Healthcare Clinics in 2016 With ‘Apple Doctors’ by Ali Salman appeared first on Wccftech.
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