Apple Acquires Medical Startup -- WSJ

By Robert McMillan 

Apple Inc. quietly purchased Gliimpse Inc., a three-year-old startup that aims to help patients make sense of their medical records.

The deal was concluded earlier this year, but wasn't confirmed by Apple until Monday, when Fast Company the acquisition.

"Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans," an Apple spokesman said Monday.

As Apple grapples with the first serious slump in iPhone sales since the product's 2007 introduction, the company is looking to expand into new areas of business, including health care.

Gliimpse is free for consumers. The company makes money from health-care providers and software developers who pay for its data-sharing software and services.

Apple's HealthKit is a data repository that stores data from mobile devices and the Apple Watch. With Gliimpse, Apple now has an opportunity to build a platform for data from electronic medical records, said Brandon Ballinger, the co-founder of Cardiogram, an Apple Watch app that tracks the wearer's heart rate. "Apple's big advantage is that they can build it into the [iOS] operating system alongside engaging data like that from HealthKit," he said.

Write to Robert McMillan at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 23, 2016 02:48 ET (06:48 GMT)

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