Apple’s Healthcare division relied on misleading data, report says



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Apple employees concerned that misleading data has been used to support new health products have been fired or faced hostility, Initiated reported. In addition, a lack of structure within the healthcare group, along with other organizational issues, is slowing and frustrating the company’s ambitions to enter healthcare, current and former Apple employees said. . Initiated.

Some concerns have focused on clinics set up by Apple to both provide healthcare to employees and develop ways to integrate data collected from Apple devices into care. A doctor involved in the project, Will Poe, said in a resignation letter to CEO Tim Cook that he was concerned team members would give misleading and overly optimistic information to COO Jeff Williams, who oversees the company’s health efforts, former employees said Initiated. Poe was concerned that team members said Williams that clinics provided ‘high quality’ care, even though the quality of care was not measured in a standardized way, Initiated reported.

Other employees raised similar concerns to Cook and Williams, Initiated reported, but the company took no action. “The company doesn’t want help. He is completely satisfied with the current status quo, ”said a former employee Initiated.

Apple claims that parts of the Initiated history are based on “outdated” information. The company is still in the “early stages of our work in health technology,” said Fred Sainz, senior director of corporate communications at Apple, in a statement. Initiated.

A the Wall Street newspaper june report also highlighted issues with in-house health clinics and said employees were concerned with the way data was collected and presented.

The focus of Apple’s hardware team on building apps and products for consumers, not medicine, also made it harder for the health team to create a more primary care program. robust through internal clinics, Initiated reported. The company began to view the clinics and their work as a way to boost Apple Watch sales, rather than their own project, people familiar with the approach said. Initiated.

Current and past employees have said Initiated there is no clear strategy for the health team and this internal culture does not allow feedback. A doctor working with the clinic team had his direct reports suppressed after discussing the clinic’s care and pushing back Sumbul Desai, Apple’s vice president of health and project leader, in a meeting. A senior engineering program manager was fired shortly after he said in a meeting that “some people in the organization preferred to tell good stories rather than accurately represent the data,” said former employees. Initiated.

“All allegations of retaliatory behavior are fully investigated and addressed with appropriate corrective action,” Sainz said in the statement to Initiated. “All healthcare leaders encourage employees to always do the right thing, speak up and raise questions.”

The revelations come as Apple’s overall culture begins to change, with more and more employees speaking out in the workplace and urging executives to take their concerns seriously. “The overriding desire … is that employees want to feel heard,” Zoe Schiffer wrote in The edge.

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