Personal Electronics Get Even More Personal:
At one time or another, many of us have had a health issue that needed more than just 1 fire-and-forget appointment to the doc.
And resolving it needed follow-up & active participation from you to succeed. -Especially since doctors are very busy, there are only so many hours in the day, and healthcare is already 4x more expensive here than anywhere else.
Well, aside from all the new phones, iPads & watch bands, one of the most interesting & compelling parts of Apple’s “Loop You In” event was something called CareKit.
Building On ResearchKit To Heal You Faster:
What it does is build on HealthKit & ResearchKit to make you awesome at getting-better.
-Because the same tools that can be used for research studies can be tweaked toward improving you; the individual study of 1.
And how many times has one of us had to either take some set of prescription meds, or do a routine of therapeutic gymnastics as part of our “homework” for fixing a doctor-bound problem?
Checklists, Reminders & Reports:
Well, CareKit takes both
1) The To Do List Part and
2) The Reporting Part of those assignments,
And gives you a persistent, quick way to be better at those check-ins;
-All with a device mostly used for your favorite cat videos and personal selfie broadcasting channel.
Your phone.
And when things start to get Really advanced, it will perhaps run entirely on your year 2022 5th-generation Apple Watch!
Better Info + Better Tracking = Better Outcomes:
The problem has always been of course, getting people to do that homework. Well, by simplifying it, helping people remember all the different steps they’ve got to perform, and probably just plain nagging them, the outcomes are likely to be a Lot better.
Then, once you’ve done those first 2 on what Apple’s calling “Care Cards” and the “Symptoms & Measurement Tracker”, your erstwhile doctor can improve his own performance by reviewing your checklist work and reports on the patient-tracking backend, called “Insight Dashboard”.
-Which will probably turn into something like a Google Analytics for a human-being.
Rich Media And Data For Rich Results:
And the best parts of that for non-visit reports? Rich Media & Rich Data.
Any one of the Tracker reports you send in will be able to show as many different media & tests the doctors can dream up.
Wound healing well? -Take a photo & send it.
Range of motion still limited after Physical Therapy training? -Shoot a video, strap your AppleWatch to the limbs in-question, and send both the visual media and motion data right in.
The same gyroscopes & accelerometers that record exercise could just as easily supply a 3D-engine to animate your motion-captured PT progress and demonstrate a virtual you to your therapists, -and whenever they have a moment to check.
Long-Term Data For Long-Term Care:
And since After-Care & Long-Term/Chronic Management are as important as the original visit or procedure, doctors are already starting the first few app projects to help.
-Like managing post-surgery recovery in Texas, Parkinson’s symptoms in Rochester, Chronic Conditions with Beth Israel Deaconess, Diabetes Data with One Drop, and Epilepsy with Johns Hopkins’ EpiWatch.
Large High-Speed Social Networks = Large Successful Studies & Care:
If the initial success of ResearchKit doing in 1 or 2 days for trial-signups (11,000) that used to take 1 year is any indicator, CareKit will probably do some really fantastic things for getting people back to healthy, and helping them stay there.
Gadgets Are Fun, But Apple Giving A Damn Is The Real Magic:
A lot of us still tend to think of our digital gadgets as toys, amusing distractions, or even luxuries. But the work Apple is doing with all 3 of its electronics-lead health-intiatives just might be the most important thing it’s doing; maybe ever.
No doubt that gadgets are cool; but this stuff might save lives.
-And it’s Open-Source. So anyone else who has a great idea can add in a new app and make all of us better, too.
Check out the details at the Links:
Photo/Video Credits:
ResearchKit/CareKit video and logo screenshots by Apple
Links:
• Source: Apple-CareKit
• via: Engadget
• More Coverage: YT-Apple’s “Loop You In” Event Video
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