Apple has been quietly testing software that would allow the tech company to provide essential healthcare services to patients with their doctors at company-owned clinics, according to a report from Apple. The Wall Street Journal. The ambitious project is called Kasper, was believed in 2016, right after the launch of the Apple Watch in 2015.
Apple CEO Jeff Williams conceptualized the plan as giving doctors and patients more constant contact, according to the paper, dubbed “363” — apparently a reference to the fact that the average person only sees their doctor twice a year.
The report noted that the clinic is now “largely paralyzed,” but that doesn’t mean it has stopped completely.
Does The Wall Street Journal:
The team decided that one of the best ways to achieve that vision was to offer its own medical service, people familiar with the plan said, and to connect data generated by Apple devices with virtual and in-person care provided by certified doctors. Apple will provide primary care, but also ongoing health monitoring as part of a dedicated subscription-based program, according to those people and the documents.
If Apple can demonstrate that its suite of sensors, software and services can improve people’s health and reduce costs, the company can franchise to model healthcare systems and even other countries, according to the documents.
Apple has begun testing the program with its California employees, buying clinics near the Cupertino campus and hiring Dr. Sumbul Desai of Stanford University to lead the project. But Apple employees, whose names were not disclosed, complained that the professional did not take notes well. These claims cannot be independently verified by Gizmodo.
Interestingly, it appears that many of the Apple employees who signed up for the program weren’t very involved, according to the new report. An app produced by Dr. Desai’s team called HealthHabit, which encourages people to set health goals with their doctor, is said to have not been used much by the people who downloaded it.
As the magazine notes, Apple has put most of its energy into other health-based initiatives that include the Apple Watch. But this isn’t the first time that people have imagined robotic medicine could deliver better health outcomes. There were similar dreams in the ’60s and ’80s, for example.
Apple did not immediately respond to Gizmodo’s questions about Casper on Wednesday morning. We will update this post if we receive a response. You can read the full report on .’s website The Wall Street Journal.
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