Apple Entering the Healthcare Market with iPad?

So what’s the latest buzz in Healthcare Technology’s hardware department – the Apple iPad. 

Those in the healthcare industry may already be familiar with some medical apps built for the iPhone and iTouch:

• Epocrates – Instant access to prescribing and safety info for over 3,500 prescription medications
• LifeScan – One ping technology allowing diabetes patients to track glucose levels and sugar intake
• iChart – Electronic Management Record system for charting patient files

But, what they might not know is that Apple is planning on marketing themselves heavily as a competitor to the Motion Computing C5 Mobile Clinical Assistant.

Jason Wilk at TinyComb shared some insider info about Apple trying to court doctors at Cedars Sinai in Los Angeles.

 

Apple has been going around targeting their first major paying customer for the device, which is not the average consumer, but the Healthcare industry (sorry fanbois, you’re not first priority here). This is a move widely overlooked by the media, since Apple has generally tried to own the consumer arena, and besides the film industry, hasn’t dominated enterprise. Well, now that they own the music, mobile, laptop and every teenager market, the medical industry is the next up to take over. [What's my intel? My Dad plays golf with Cedars-Sinai hospital execs, who say they have been getting frequent visits from Apple about a new device in the last 6 weeks].

Do you ever wonder where Jobs and the Apple clan get their inspiration? 

Out of adversity comes opportunity – Perhaps the iPad stemmed from Jobs frequenting hospitals while undergoing treatment for pancreatic cancer. Did seeing nurses carry a hand-held device not branded by the "forbidden fruit" get Jobs’ wheels turning? 

After all – an apple a day keeps the doctor away! 

Regardless of what spurred on the tablet’s development, if the Healthcare Market adopts the Mac, Electronic Management Technology will be one step closer to an iTouch away.