A Scotland-based developer of medical apps is very happy with Apple’s ResearchKit. eClinicalHealth Limited CEO Doug Bain says that the open-source SDK, along with its already-released Healthkit app, “is simply a natural progression to the work we have been innovating with in patient recruitment, engagement and other biometric device solutions.”
eClinicalHealth is the developer of Clinpal, a digital platform that aims to move as much of the clinical trial process online as possible, providing a web portal through which researchers can engage with patients. Apple’s newly-announced ResearchKit, meanwhile, aims to leverage the biometric tools and other technological features available on Apple devices like the iPhone and the Apple Watch to let medical researchers build their own iOS software platforms to crowd source research.
If that sounds like it could pose a competitive challenge to the kind of system eClinicalHealth has been developing, that company is eager to disagree. The company asserts in a press release that the ResearchKit “will integrate well with our technology and with our philosophy that studies should and can be conducted more efficiently,” and eClinicalHealth CEO Doug Bain adds that “Apple’s ResearchKit is just the type of online connectivity that Clinpal was designed for.” Indeed, given how third-party medical tech companies have managed to leverage Apple’s HealthKit since its launch, eClinicalHealth may have a golden opportunity here to see what it can do with Apple’s latest offering.
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