Apple recently engaged in talks to buy Crossover Health, a startup that runs on-site health clinics for large companies, CNBC reports. Crossover Health is one of a handful of companies that provide medical and wellness services to self-insured employers on or near their offices.
Sources said the talks went on for months, but never materialized into any kind of concrete deal. But other sources said Apple also approached One Medical — a nationwide primary care group — which could signal Apple is serious about making inroads into a more robust primary health care role.
A source said Apple’s health team has expressed interest in the primary care field for more than a year, but it’s still unclear whether the company would operate its own clinics or just be the technology partner for existing providers.
Apple has been buying up health data companies and hiring high-profile doctors to bolster its credibility in the health field in recent years, and has joined an FDA pilot program to speed up its development of new health technology and applications. While a push into actually delivering health care may seem like a stretch, CEO Tim Cook has presented a grand vision for Apple’s future in the health care field, once saying, “The holy grail of the watch is being able to monitor more and more of what’s going on in your body.
