Hyderabad: In recent years, wearable devices have been widely used for activity tracking and monitoring of health. Apple is focusing on tracking mental health, walking steadiness features, and tracking menstrual cycles said Dr Sumbul Desai at BioAsia 2023.
Apple’s Vice President of Health while speaking at the fireside chat with Dr Sangita Reddy, Joint Managing Director at Apollo Hospitals, said “We don’t do technology for technology’s sake, we want to make sure we have actionable insights that we can give to users so they can actually make some changes.”
She also emphasized how people have misconceptions regarding Apple’s privacy policy. “Privacy is at the core of our health application. We maintain the same level of privacy that doctors would maintain about their patients. Many think that Apple has access to the data. It is not true. We do not have any access to the data generated by individuals. It stays in the device.”
Shifting the conversation around women’s health, Dr Desai opined “In our approach to women’s health, one of our fundamental beliefs is to partner with medical research and the scientific community to develop heart features. Women’s health is an understudied area.”
When it comes to including tech in healthcare, Dr Reddy said that cardiac remains the major area to work on.“The use of technology makes it easier to understand the risks. Empowering individuals is key to preserving the population’s health. There is data coming from many channels but it needs to be analysed for actionable insights,” said Dr Reddy.
Dr Reddy also clarified the role of robotics, “I don’t mean that robots are going to start giving medications, but they will assist nurses. The role of robotics is also in the operation theater, automation, and AI-enabled care pathways, as there is the global workforce who have the ability to utilize it.” She also emphasized how telemedicine played an important part in rural India and delivered remote care.