Apple talking HealthKit with major healthcare providers

Apple has been discussing its upcoming HealthKit service with major healthcare providers, including Mount Sinai, the Cleveland Clinic, and Johns Hopkins, Reuters reports. The company has also talked about the service with Allscripts, an electronic health records provider. Though the report notes the talks “may not amount to anything concrete,” they illustrate how Apple is planning on making iOS-gathered health data widely available for health providers to view. As noted at this year’s WWDC, Apple is also working with the Mayo Clinic on an app that can notify doctors of abnormal results. However, there is still some skepticism that Apple will be able to deliver on the promise of HealthKit, considering differing hospital IT systems and data protection requirements of HIPAA.