Apple's HealthKit Delayed By Software Bug
By Jof Enriquez,
Follow me on Twitter @jofenriq
Apple delayed the release of its HealthKit health platform after an unspecified software bug was discovered. The platform — along with third-party apps that are to send it health data — will now be available in late September.
“We’re working quickly to have the bug fixed in a software update and have HealthKit apps available by the end of the month,” Apple said in an email cited by Reuters. Third-party apps such as MyFitnessPal and Carrot Fit were also pulled from the Apple Store. HealthKit was originally scheduled to be launched with Apple’s iOS 8 mobile operating system (OS) for iPhone and iPad devices. The OS was released as planned with new features like the health app, but without the HealthKit functionality.
The widely anticipated HealthKit is being touted by Apple as a game-changer in healthcare for its ability to consolidate data from different wearables, apps, and medical devices, and make the information available for clinicians to help direct a plan of care. This means consumer gadgets like fitness bands, as well as FDA-regulated devices like glucometers, can all work seamlessly with the accompanying apps of HealthKit.
With the consolidation of personal, patient-critical data, there is also a risk for that sensitive information to be hacked and abused, the Reuters article noted.
The delay and potential susceptibility of the new program, however, hasn’t had a profound impact on Apple’s partners.
Shortly after the glitch was announced, Athenahealth and Cerner confirmed to Reuters that their companies are “building integrations with HealthKit and working with Apple.” According to Reuters, “Athenahealth vice president Abbe Don said the company will use HealthKit to help patients with chronic conditions like diabetes,” and “Cerner senior director Brian Carter said care teams, including doctors and nurses, will be able to access data from HealthKit with patients' consent.”
Fellow EHR player Epic Systems already has an agreement in place with Apple for testing HealthKit on Duke University and Stanford University Hospital patients.
App developers are also seemingly unfazed by the delay.
“We really believe that HealthKit has the potential to transform how people look after their health,” Peter Hames, co-founder of the new sleep tracking app Sleepio, said in a Wired article. Sleepio and a few other apps, such as fitness tracking app Strava, had to be tweaked to work without the HealthKit integration to ensure their availability in the App Store.
Peter Hames, CEO of Big Health, which developed Sleepio, is “noticably excited about HealthKit, and believes it can really have a positive effect on big-picture health issues in the future,” a Venture Beat article reported. “Hames and his team plan to build the HealthKit features back in to Sleepio once the platform is up and running.”
Consumer spending also indicates that there was very little concern over the HealthKit delay. According to another Reuters report, there were more than 10 million new iPhones sold within the first three days of its release.