Medtech giant Medtronic apparently hasn't slowed down on its appetite for using Apple technology internally—even as the iconic tech company is signaling its interest to compete more actively in the healthcare market.
Fridley, MN–based Medtronic "has developed over 175 internal iOS apps for over 16,500 iPhones used by its employees to facilitate sales, improve productivity and ensure that essential marketing materials are up to date," Apple chief financial officer Luca Maestri told analysts during a July 22 conference call transcribed by Seeking Alpha.
Maestri cited Medtronic as an example of a company equipping employees with iPhones to boost productivity, employee satisfaction and profitability. Maestri also mentioned Nestle, with 25,000 iPhones, and NASA, with over 26,000 iPhones.
Medtronic's internal love of Apple devices has been reported before. Back in 2011, Medtronic made news over the 5,000 iPads it was using internally. There were 28 apps available at that time, according to MedCity News.
Medtronic has more than 46,000 employees.
Ironically, the maker of the devices that Medtronic's IT department apparently loves so much is setting itself up to potentially become a competitor—though there might also be partnering opportunities as well.
Apple this year announced HealthKit, a glorified healthcare and fitness app bundled into iOS8 that can potentially communicate patient health data to hospitals. The company also announced a partnership with the Mayo Clinic, which is exploring the integration of HealthKit, potentially enabling the app to share health information with clinicians.
The rumored iWatch increasingly looks as though it will also be a digital health platform.
Refresh your medical device industry knowledge at MEDevice San Diego, September 10–11, 2014.
Meanwhile, a Medtronic executive earlier this year described Google as the company’s greatest competitor, not other medical device companies such as Johnson & Johnson or Boston Scientific.
Colin Anawaty, CPO and cofounder of Filament Labs (Austin, TX), suggested to Qmed this week that that device developers give special consideration to Google’s Android mobile operating system platform, which has the advantage over iOS of being Open Source.
Related Article
Why Medtech Needs to Learn about iOS and Android
Chris Newmarker is senior editor of MPMN and Qmed. Follow him on Twitter at @newmarker.
Like what you’re reading? Subscribe to our daily e-newsletter.
