Product Review: Two Apple Watch Enterprise Apps Launched With IMS Health Life Sciences Wearable Platform

Published on June 7, 2015 by R "Ray" Wang

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IMSHealthWear 1.00 Gives IMS Health First Mover Advantage In Wearable Form Factors And Apps For Healthcare Customer Experience

The rise and success of wearables such as the Apple Watch may not come as a surprise.  Constellation estimates that Apple sold 7.25 million units to date with the potential to deliver up to 43.50 million units by end of 2015.  While the consumer side of the AppleWatch launch generated a lot of buzz, demand, and innovation, the disruption on the enterprise side has been limited to a few players such as SAP, IBM, Oracle, Salesforce.com and Zoho.  With other wearables moving beyond a watch, customers seek new solutions and platforms that take advantage of these new form factors.

The June 8th, 2015, launch of IMSHealthWear 1.00 signifies an early breakthrough for wearables in enterprise healthcare. The launch of two new apps for the AppleWatch take advantage of the wearables form factor as well as introduce a platform to serve a broader set of wearables in the future (see Figure 1).

  • IMS MGRWear focuses on team, groups, and partners. Key features include smart and immediate tracking, access to aggregated and integrated sales data, immediate approvals and task routing, platform based security and performance, 360 degree view of territory performance.  Managers can view rep performance, drill in on key performance indicators, and even approve expense reports.
  • IMS  REPWear empowers sales reps. Key features include smart and immediate routing, access to aggregated and integrated sales data, secure document distribution, platform based security and performance, complete access to customer data.  Reps can easily access their calendar, make calls from the phone, respond to short messages, receive alerts on their accounts, and quickly retrieve customer information.

The road map for the five total apps have a planned general availability for Q1 2016.

Figure 1. The IMSHealthWear Life Sciences Wearable Platform Line Up

IMS HealthWear 1.00 Lineup

Source: IMS Health

Form Follows Function In Wearables

With a screen size of 272 x 340 pixels for the 38mm version and 312 x 390 for the 42 mm version on the Apple Watch, the initial set of solutions provide another form factor for sales reps and managers.   Design of the existing apps take advantage of ambient notifications, the ability to access quick bites of information, and respond to quick tasks.   With the wearable apps running on the same platform as the core IMS solution, users do not have to worry about a separate technology stack to support the product.   Expect future wearable solutions to focus on three main themes: simplifying complex tasks, reducing the process time, and capturing attention when needed (see Figure 2).

Figure 2.  The IMSHealthWear 1.00 Launch Includes 5 Apple Watch Apps And A Platform


Source: IMS Health

The Bottom Line: New Wearables Platform Shows Innovation Is Alive And Well Post-Merger

The acquisition of Cegedim by IMS Health brought together strategic assets required for a network economy.  As one of the key rules in disrupting digital business, successful organizations must bring the content, network, and technology together to create successful business models in the digital era.  IMS Health brought significant content through its insights business and a strong network of providers, payors, and other health care professionals.  Cegedim brought the  technology to the table.

As with all acquisitions, clients often fear the stifling of incremental and transformational innovation post merger. With the deal closed in April 2015, the arrival of a wearables platform two months post merger presents a pleasant surprise to customers and prospects. More importantly, IMS Health is inviting customers to pilot the new apps, and join the consortium of Life Science customers and wearable manufacturers to build the next set of apps.

The new apps when delivered, should help every individual inside an organization to quickly access insight and more importantly speed up decision making. As often said in the digital world, success equates to saving time or capturing one’s attention.   The new IMSHealthWear apps when launched as promised should take a strong step in this direction.

Your POV

Are you in the midst of digital transformation? Have you looked at how the Apple Watch and other wearables can play a role in reducing time or catpuring attention?  Add your comments to the blog or reach me via email: R (at) ConstellationR (dot) com or R (at) SoftwareInsider (dot) org.

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