Apple's ResearchKit Must Outlast Novelty Value to Aid Medical Insight
GlobalData believes that Apple’s ResearchKit, which allows researchers to create apps and collect data for disease management by recruiting subjects via iPhones, has the potential to redefine the medical research dynamics, especially for chronic disease management.
The ability to recruit a large patient pool using iPhones will both reduce the costs associated with these studies and enable continual and convenient monitoring, as the patient does not have to visit a test centre to record any data. The ability to link apps to other external wearable or monitoring devices, such as inhalers, is another distinct highlight of this technology.
However, there are also some potential pitfalls with the ResearchKit, apart from the privacy concerns already voiced in several media reports.
Firstly, it is uncertain whether this approach to medical research, in which physicians do not actually engage with participants, will add any valuable insight. This is because there are risks in assuming high participant compliance and formulating disease management conclusions based solely on the data collected by the ResearchKit. GlobalData believes that this approach can only supplement traditional research.
Secondly, study participants can readily drop out when the app’s novelty wears off. This would make the previously-collected data unusable for the purposes of statistical analysis, although some form of incentive might sustain participant commitment. We therefore anticipate that the trade-offs between a large participant pool and data accuracy will be the top concerns of using this platform.
Finally, GlobalData has reservations about the ResearchKit’s future penetration in international markets outside the US. The varied regulatory landscape in other geographies with regards to monitoring such apps may hinder this new platform’s adoption in regions such as the EU and Asia.
