iPhones that Make You Healthier: Apple Partners with Mayo Clinic

Apple will officially launch the Health app and the tool created for developers, HealthKit (created with the help of Epic Systems), which allows health and fitness apps to work together. The app and the developer kit have already been in the making for two years in partnership with the prestigious Rochester, Minnesota-based Mayo Clinic, reports Fast Company.

As the medical director of marketing and public affairs for the Mayo Clinic, John Wald, tells Fast Company, the clinic has been instrumental in developing the Health app and HealthKit API and hopes to be a big player among the fitness and health apps that will use Apple’s Health platform.

This fall, Mayo will redesign their primary iPhone app to be a consumer-facing product. Any Apple owner will be able to log in and “seek out information through other platforms which currently exist, and get health and medical information. Down the road if they need to find health care, they can build a relationship with the Mayo Clinic, Wald said to Fast Company.

Both Apple and the Mayo Clinic dominate their respective fields, and this has led to a partnership that benefits both parties: Mayo aims to become an indispensable provider of medical advice to a clientele it may not see, and Apple aims to make the iPhone indispensable for everyone interested in monitoring their health.