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 Welcome to today in Health It, where we dive into topics shaping the future of healthcare and health.

It. I'm Kate Gamble and I'm joined, as always by Sarah Richardson. Sarah, hello and happy Friday. Happy Friday to you, Kate. So we are gonna be talking about Apple's next big move, which looks to involve AI powered coaching and this touches on something. Every healthcare leader should be watching consumer driven AI health tools.

It's important to point out that Apple isn't doing this impulsively. In February, the company kicked off a major study to collect biomarker information and user input, and is working with organizations like Brigham and Women's Hospital to understand how data collected by wearables can be used to predict, monitor, manage, and assess a person's physical and mental wellbeing.

Apple

has done their homework, but that's important context. So as we unpack this, we're gonna break into some of the key highlights and dig into why this matters for Health IT leaders and what questions we should be asking.

let's start with the headline feature. According to the article, Apple's reportedly building an AI health coach possibly branded as courts that will offer personalized advice using data from Apple Watch and your iPhone.

So this means we're moving beyond step counters and heart rate trackers toward real-time actionable coaching.

So think nudges on how to improve sleep activity, stress levels, and maybe even mental health support.

If this is true, this is gonna position Apple more directly in the behavioral health and preventative care arena. And this isn't trivial. It's a space that public health systems have struggled to scale for years.

Remember, you and I talked a few months ago about do wearables actually add to the increased burden of the patient interaction with their physician?

that's such an important part of this. Apple also plans to run much of this AI on device, and that's a big deal for privacy advocates and CIOs, especially given how cautious organizations are about PHI and consumer data.

Running AI locally could help Apple sidestep the whole cloud vulnerability debate, but it also aligns with the broader privacy first stance, which may make them more appealing to enterprise health partnerships.

But on the flip side, on device AI also means limited context without access to larger clinical data sets or real time EHR integration.

How smart will these coaches really be?

That brings us to the conversation of disruption. So if Apple's offering AI driven coaching, what does that mean for traditional providers? Is it competition or is it collaboration? Maybe it's a little

bit of both, right. Co-opetition or however that works. So that right now health systems are looking for ways to extend care beyond the walls.

But without overburdening clinical staff, which we know is a huge aspect of this, AI coaches could theoretically fill that gap if integrated correctly.

And there's your key word, Kate, integration. So without connections to EHRs or secure messaging with your providers, the tools could lead to data silos, or even what I just said, self diagnosis overload.

And another angle. Apple's reportedly expanding into mental health support with journaling features and emotional tracking, and that's a response to the rising demand and shrinking clinical availability. I like that emotional tracking. I.

It made me wonder is it gonna know though when you and I are like excited about a baseball game or we're cranky about something that our pets did?

Like, how does it know what form of emotional tracking that it's seeking because it dovetails with tools like Headspace, ginger, nva, Amazon's Halo before it was discontinued. Apple brings a unique strength, which is a massive installed base and trusted brand. I have to wonder, does this mean that you get all iWatches for your family?

Finally.

That is a good question. Hopefully they're not listening. if Apple gets this right, this could help people establish long-term healthy habits. Something behavioral science has tried to crack for decades and really forever.

And it's not just about Apple, it's about the broader shift towards consumer AI health tools.

Google, Samsung, Amazon have all tried to play in this space. But here's the thing, and I had this conversation yesterday, how do I tell my watch I'm on the plane? I mean, I can put it in airplane mode, or how do I tell my watch that I'm actually, not feeling well today? I. There's just aspects of how you live your life that are not intuitive with wearables, until we can start to put greater tags or inputs and some of the devices like Aura has tags that you can add.

But managing all of the ways to tell your wearable how to follow you appropriately is gonna be something that absolutely has to mature before this becomes more mainstream.

I agree, and that may seem somewhat trivial, but it's really not. If you're trying to track your health, it's important for this device to understand that you are, like you said, on a plane or you're doing an exercise that's not cardio, so things like that, Apple might be the first to pull off something that feels clinically adjacent and user-friendly. And if they succeed, this could redefine the digital front door of care.

So if you are the C-suite in it, what should your innovation teams be thinking about? Here's some takeaways. Patient expectations are changing, so if consumers get daily coaching from their phone, they'll expect similar responsiveness from their providers.

You may have some data silos versus data synergy. So how do we connect consumer grade health insights with clinical workflows both safely and meaningfully? This is gonna have some workforce augmentation implications. Could AI coaching be part of a digital staff strategy, especially in primary care and behavioral health deserts?

And I've heard this term twice in the last 24 hours, and that's about the digital. Staff strategy, so I'm glad it's part of this conversation as well. Vendor partnerships, should you be reaching out to Apple right now or wait for more mature integration capabilities? I'm gonna say it depends on that one, for sure.

And then last thing to really think about is bias and safety. Even with privacy first models, how do we ensure these tools aren't reinforcing bias, misinformation, or unrealistic health standards?

Those are really important questions. And of course Apple, as we said before, they're not new to this space.

Organizations like Sharp Healthcare and Stanford Medicine have been at the forefront with technologies like Vision Pro headsets, and patients are clearly using their tools. So leaders need to think about how to meet patients where

they are. That said, it is a slippery slope. The moment you say we're working with Apple patients might expect medical grade results.

So governance disclaimers, clinical oversight are all non-negotiables.

Exactly. And it also raises the question of how do we train staff to work alongside ai, especially if these tools are nudging patients before they talk to their care team.

Or what if AI coaches flag serious health issues before your provider does?

That opens up clinical liability and workflow escalation scenarios we have not fully modeled yet.

So as a final thought, what is your organization's AI readiness strategy? Are you evaluating consumer tech as part of your digital front door approach? And I'm sure

you are. Yep. These are two questions that.

Are often raised in our conversations with our communities, and maybe more importantly, how are you helping your teams make sense of what's helpful hype and what's just noise?

So this being Friday, we have to have a little fun. What is your favorite Apple offering? That's not an easy question, right? It's not an easy

question because I am. Very Apple centric. As you know, I have my iPad, my MacBook, my phone, my watch. I listen to Apple Music. I watch Apple tv. I'm gonna say my Apple ecosystem might be my favorite offering, except I'm really grateful for the programming they do on Apple tv.

There's really some good content out there and I don't watch a lot of mainstream shows, so I really do what Apple brings to the table from their entertainment platform perspective. What about you?

That was a good answer. If I think about things like just the AirPods, that has been life changing for me.

It really, I mean, it changes everything. I go on these walks with Ted, my dog, who sometimes doesn't like to walk, so it takes a while. So I'm listening to podcasts, I'm listening to music. I'm like, all right, you can fiddle around all you want. You have a dog that doesn't wanna go for a walk. Like, what is He's just very stubborn. I have to wait it out. But with Apple Technology, I don't mind as much.

There's a good marketing tagline for you with Apple Technology. I can wait out the dog on a walk.

Hopefully they're listening.

Hopefully they're listening.

Well, this has been fun, so thank you as always for joining.

Yes, happy Friday.

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