Apple's Health team has been reported dealing with internal problems, according to a report released on Oct. 5. Company politics, departures, and lack of direction have left the team struggling.
Apple Responds
Based on Business Insider's written interview of 11 present and past Apple employees, the tech giant's health department is having issues working together.
The senior director of corporate communications, Fred Sainz, responded to the article and said that all allegations of retaliatory behavior are investigated and handled with corrective actions.
One story included in the report is from Dr. Will Poe, a health team member's doctor. In December 2019, he sent a resignation letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook via email and outlined in blistering terms why the team could not do any meaningful work, according to The Verge.
One of Dr. Poe's main concerns was that the members of the team in charge of the health centers were saying that the patient care they gave was high quality.
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But at that time, Apple did not measure quality in the clinics with standardized metrics, and it was collecting results from patient-satisfaction surveys in reviews.
Other employees stated that they were treated poorly by those in charge after they raised concerns.
In 2019, Dr. Bronwyn Harris, the former CEO of a healthcare startup bought by Apple, drew a stream of criticism from Desai after contradicting her about a team initiative in front of those in charge.
Harris had also spoken up about what she thought was poor care at AC Wellness that year.
The Original Report
Tim Cook has previously said that Apple's greatest contribution to the public will be related to health.
However, Blake Dodge from Business Insider reported that the company's health team had faced several internal issues and numerous departures.
The report claims that Apple's health team has faced several organizational problems that have left the team without any clear direction and struggling to mix the hardware-oriented culture with the medical business practices.
In the report, some of the employees stated that colleagues faced negative treatment after they talked about the things that concerned them about certain projects.
Some employees stated that inaccurate information reached the company's senior leadership, including Apple's COO, Jeff Williams. Williams oversees both the health initiatives and Apple Watch.
Apple stated in a statement that a lot of the assertions in the story are based on outdated, incomplete, and inaccurate information and added that they investigated everything thoroughly.
Despite the issue with the teams and the internal problems in the company, Apple is working on adding more features to its Health app, especially now that users can download their COVID-19 vaccination proof for easier access, according to MacRumors.
Apple is also working on adding a feature that lets a healthcare provider import your lab results into the Health app, complete with information on what the test is for, what the result means, and how the result compares to your previous tests.
The feature gives a clear visual on whether a lab result is normal or if it is out of range so you can check at a glance if something is not right. The highlights are shown in summary, and the tests can be pinned for fast access.
Apple Health app also has a food tracking feature.
Apple Health app can also be accessed through Verison's TeleHealth now for faster transfer of health data.
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Written by Sophie Webster
