Roger Fingas
Apple may now have as many as 50 medical doctors spread through the company as it continues to build on the health technologies found in the iPhone, Apple Watch, and HealthKit.
The recruits are "not just for show," CNBC said on Wednesday, citing multiple sources. With the help of those sources and LinkedIn searches, CNBC said it was able to identify at least 20 physicians — some sources indicated however that as many as 50 may be in Apple's services.
Part of the difficulty in getting a solid number is Apple's infamous secrecy. Many doctors have reportedly avoided revealing their jobs at Apple.
The specialities of Apple's hires are said to be diverse, including people like cardiologist Alexis Beatty, pediatrician Rajiv Kumar, and orthopedic surgeon Sharat Kusuma, the latter of whom is handling a partnership with medical gear maker Zimmer Biomet to determine whether Apple technology can speed recovery from knee and hip replacements.
The company's Apple Watch division is believed to have doctors embedded in several teams. Other people are working on things such as a health records project, or the internal "AC Wellness" primary care group for workers.
Signaling greater plans, doctors like family medicine specialist Michael Evans and anesthesiologist Mike O'Reilly have been assigned to Apple's "special projects" group — a label for people developing secret next-generation products.
Apple just recently launched its promised electrocardiogram feature for the Apple Watch Series 4, and hired the CEO of prescription-tracking startup Mango Health.
William Gallagher
Andrew O'Hara
Charles Martin
Christine McKee
16 Comments
They might be there to treat all the burned out Apple engineers
Just posted this on https://www.ped30.com/2018/12/12/trade-war-zacks-apple/ :
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Completely off-topic, but here’s a link posted today on Braeburn Group that is very much Apple-related:
https://abcnews.go.com/Health/apple-watch-told-46-year-man-irregular-heartbeat/story?id=59726093
This story is about a 46 year old man who found out via his Apple Watch that he had a-fib. It struck a chord with me because I also found out via my Apple Watch that I had a-fib and atrial flutter. In this man’s case it was because he just tried out the new ECG capability for the heck of it. In my case, it was the Watch’s heart rate monitor that alerted me that I had a racing heart.
But there’s a bit more in my case to the story. I was scheduled for a procedure called atrial ablation this coming Monday, and in prep for that went through a special heart scan test. In the process of THAT test, I found out this morning that I also have a hiatal hernia. That will require yet another surgery, and must be done before the heart procedure.
So directly or indirectly, Apple is responsible for diagnosing two serious health issues of mine over the past few months. Apple is taking care of me in more ways than just being a stockholder….
Thanks, Apple!
The next frontier, artificial intelligence, will involve coalescing the knowledge of thousands of the best medical practitioners in their respective fields and automating those aspects that drive patients batty: wrong diagnoses, incorrectly prescribed medications and failure to devote adequate time to the patient. Doctors will first be supplemented, then replaced with systems that will rarely if ever get a diagnosis wrong.
That is fantastic!.. 👍Apple!
First develop expertise, then develop a product. Apple does it just like Samsung, only the opposite.