Apple has bought Gliimpse, a personal health data startup, according to Fast Company. The acquisition apparently took place earlier this year.
The company provides “Gliimpses,” your health story. The company helps users collect their medical data from web portals, then help organize it into a shared and understood health story.
Your personal story adds color to your health data, like “hey doc, that migraine med makes me feel dizzy.” You control your Gliimpse by using your portal username and password, and we download and organize your personal health data from over 1,500-plus US health systems, pharmacies and labs on your behalf.
The acquisition is obviously designed to bolster Apple’s ever-growing efforts in digital health. What stands out about the deal is that Gliimpse is intended for patients with diseases like cancer and diabetes, notes Fast Company.
It’s unlikely that this acquisition will bring Apple’s health technologies under the purview of federal regulators. CEO Tim Cook recently told Fast Company in an interview that he sees a major business opportunity for the company in the non-regulated side of health care: “So if you don’t care about reimbursement, which we have the privilege of doing, that may even make the smartphone market look small.”
