Honing in on HealthKit: An App Review

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A few weeks ago, MobiHealthNews rounded up an updated list of the health and wellness apps that connect to Apple’s HealthKit, a health and fitness data exchange that facilitates data sharing between iOS apps. With a total of 137 apps, MobiHealthNews analyzed the ways in which these apps integrate with HealthKit—some only pull data, some only push data and about 20 percent do both. When all analyses were complete, the major point discovered was this: while HealthKit makes it possible to share dozens of different types of health and fitness data, most apps make use of the same few data points. Active calories and weight data are both among the top three most popular data types to push or pull from HealthKit. Take a look below to see the full results!

Number of apps pushing various kinds of data (or “writing”) to Apple HealthKit.

• 34 percent of HealthKit apps (46) are pushing active calories data.
• 20 percent of HealthKit apps (28) are pushing weight data.
• 18 percent of HealthKit apps (25) are writing heart rate data.
• 18 percent (24) are pushing workouts data to HealthKit, even though the Apple Health app doesn’t have such a field.
• 15 percent of HealthKit apps (21) are feeding step count data into the platform.
• 15 percent (20) are sharing walking and running distance data with HealthKit.
• 10 percent of HealthKit apps (14) are pushing out sleep analysis data.
• 9 percent (12) are sharing nutrition data with the HealthKit ecosystem.
• 8 percent (11) are pushing out blood pressure data with HealthKit.
• 7 percent of HealthKit apps (9) are writing cycling distance data.

Number of apps pulling various kinds of data (or “reading”) from Apple HealthKit

• 23 percent of HealthKit apps (32) are pulling weight data.
• 16 percent (22) are integrating step count data from HealthKit.
• 12 percent (17) are using active calories data from the platform.
• 10 percent of HealthKit apps (14) are using heart rate data pulled from the system.
• 10 percent (14) are pulling down blood pressure data from HealthKit.
• 9 percent (13) make use of walking and running distance data retrieved from HealthKit.
• 9 percent (13) are pulling nutrition data from HealthKit.
• 9 percent of HealthKit apps (12) are using sleep analysis data from the platform.
• 7 percent of HealthKit-connected apps are using the platform to pull in a user’s height.
• 7 percent (9) are pulling in a user’s birthdate from HealthKit.

SOURCE: MobiHealthNews

About DoseSpot 
DoseSpot is a Surescripts certified e-Prescribing platform specifically designed to integrate with electronic health record, electronic dental record, practice management and telehealth software. DoseSpot is certified to e-Prescribe controlled substances and has provided simple, affordable and integratable e-Prescribing solutions to healthcare IT companies since 2009. For more information, please visit www.DoseSpot.com.

“Map My Body:” Google’s Newest Health Endeavor Spans the Genome

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SOURCE: Vanity Fair

We’re surrounded by hundreds of health terms on a daily basis, but what does it truly mean to be “healthy”? Google X, the research branch of Google, may soon have an answer for us. As first reported by the Wall Street Journal and later confirmed by Google, Google X has embarked on a bio-medical research project called ‘Baseline Study’ that will aggregate anonymous genetic and molecular information. The Study will initially test 175 people to solidify data collection methods—with thousands more to come— to create an accurate picture of the healthy human.

The 175-person pilot group will go through extensive medical testing, including blood and saliva analyses. Once completed, the Baseline Study team will review all samples with researchers at Duke University and Stanford University, the anticipated sites for the eventual, large-scale study.

In response to privacy concerns, Google told the Wall Street Journal that any data collected for Baseline will be anonymous, used only for medical purposes, and will not be shared with insurance companies. Baseline’s aim is to act as a reference database for the chemistry of a well-machined, healthy body—and, subsequently, identify abnormalities much earlier. With the birth of Baseline, the hope is that the medical community will move towards prevention rather than treatment in response to disease.

Sources: The Next Web and  Business Insider

For more information on Google’s groundbreaking health plans, check out this article by TIME Magazine: http://time.com/3045429/google-baseline-study-human-health/

About DoseSpot

DoseSpot is a Surescripts™ certified e-Prescribing platform specifically designed to integrate with electronic health record, electronic dental record, practice management and telehealth software. DoseSpot has provided simple, affordable and integratable e-Prescribing solutions to healthcare IT companies since 2009. For more information, please visit www.DoseSpot.com.