Presidential hopeful Jeb Bush was speaking in Arizona this week, when he began to explain why he wants to repeal Obamacare, reports Fox 10 Phoenix. He caught the crowd by surprise, however, when he dropped this little gem about the Apple Watch.
“I think we should repeal Obamacare,” Bush said this week at Arizona’s Four Peaks Brewery. Then, he pointed to his Apple Watch. “On this device in five years will be applications that will allow me to manage my healthcare in ways that, five years ago, were not even possible.”
Bush gave one somewhat fanciful and misguided example of how the Apple Watch could act as a doctor in the future.
“Because of my blood sugar, someone will send me a signal, I’ll get a double beep saying, you just ate a butter scotch sundae, you’re diabetic, you can’t do that,” said Bush. “Whatever, we’ll be able to guide our decisions in a way that will make us healthier.”
FOX 10 News | fox10phoenix.com
Hopefully, the possible GOP frontrunner for the Office of the President of the United States of America isn’t actually suggesting that America replace its entire healthcare system with a smartwatch. However, there is a kernel of truth to his statements about the potential of wearables. Wearables are increasingly focused on health and wellness, and some doctors are starting to look at data from wearables to help treat their patients.
Apple has been working to bring its HealthKit app, which syncs data from the Apple Watch, into as many hospitals as possible. The company has had success, earning trials at many major hospitals. Although the Apple Watch and other wearables cannot replace doctors, it seems that these devices may be able to help them.
Currently, the Apple Watch can’t track blood sugar levels, and Siri doesn’t typically offer medical advice, so we’re not sure where he got that idea from. However, it’s possible that wearables and health applications may one day reach a higher level of patient analysis. For now, we might want to keep the healthcare system around, though.
