Apple’s latest buzz—Apple HealthKit—claims to revolutionize the health industry. But what’s missing among the promises of connecting you to doctors and connecting your Nike app to MyFitnessPal is a focus on one of the most important and often neglected health problems among patients—skin disease.
What is HealthKit and What Can It Do Now?
HealthKit uses your medical records and health information so that different health and fitness apps can work together.
- Using data like your heart rate, cholesterol level, and blood pressure, the app gives you an overview of your health.
- It lets you put your blood type and allergies on your Lock screen in case of an emergency, and lets you easily make an appointment with a nearby physician.
- The app would allow patient records to be transferred between healthcare locations.
- Images of X-rays, CT scans, and lab results would be sent right to your phone and stored in your medical records.
Why should skin be included in HealthKit?
Skin is a leading cause of doctor’s appointments: one out of five physician visits are skin related. A study from the University of Miami School of Medicine found that skin disease is the number one complaint in 60% of patients seeking primary care. Setting up an appointment with a primary care doctor or a dermatologist can take days, but many skin conditions need immediate treatment. HealthKit can easily tackle these barriers to care, easing appointment scheduling and triaging, especially since these mobile services like First Derm already exist.
First Derm is service that provides professional analysis of your skin within 24 hours. The analysis would provide users an anonymous initial opinion from a board certified dermatologist, which is an alternative to a potentially embarrassing face-to-face visit with a general practitioner.
It’s possible that Apple may add a Skin tab on HealthKit in the near future where you could easily push that first opinion and photos from First Derm’s dermatologists to HealthKit, which could then be forwarded to your doctor. Once you arrive at your appointment, your doctor would be ready with a treatment plan, saving you waiting time and leading to a more accurate diagnosis.
Revolutionized medicine
As technology takes over the health industry, the days of waiting hours for a primary care appointment and waiting days for medical records to be faxed across hospitals are over. The app is benefitting doctors too. According to Apple Insider, HealthKit could minimize physician paperwork, calls, and emails. Instead, all health information would be communicated through HealthKit.
Still, there are many aspects of the Apple HealthKit premise that is missing. There will be a plethora of health apps and integrations within the iOS system from fitness trackers to calorie counters. With all the noise, it can be difficult to keep track of one of the most important (and most visible) medical aspects of your body—your skin. Let’s see a future where every patient can utilize First Derm to get quicker referrals, avoid unnecessary doctor visits and understand your skin better and faster.
The Specialist doctor from the University Hospital in Gothenburg, alumnus UC Berkeley. My doctoral dissertation is about Digital Health and I have published 5 scientific articles in teledermatology and artificial intelligence and others.
