Dr. Sumbul Ahmad Desai (right), VP of Health and Fitness at Apple, speaks with moderator Dr. Amy Bhatt, chief innovation officer at the American College of Cardiology, during a keynote session at HIMSS26 on Wednesday.
Photo: Susan Morse/HFN, HIMSS
LAS VEGAS – Before a packed ballroom at the 2026 HIMSS Global Health Conference & Exhibition here Wednesday, keynote speaker Dr. Sumbul Ahmad Desai gave the crowd a preview of what to expect next from Apple.
Desai is vice president of Health and Fitness at the technology giant that introduced consumers to Apple Watches that monitor heart rate, ECG, blood and oxygen levels and give notifications for sleep apnea and the other vital metrics.
Apple wearables have been a health outcome opportunity, Desai said, giving as an example how one consumer wearing an Apple Watch found his heart rate was elevated, so went to his doctor, who diagnosed atrial fibrillation (AFib).
Patients have more power over their health as they are able to detect issues before they become a chronic condition.
"It goes back to the point of empowering the user, the patient," Desai said.
"We're able to leverage technology where it's seamless," she said. "We're very excited about driving proactive and preventative care."
The next step is a more seamless collaboration with the healthcare system. This includes the scaling of clinical collaborations.
For example, Apple has partnered with Emory Hillandale Hospital in Lithonia, Georgia, where Epic is available on the Mac. Emory Healthcare has introduced Mac, iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch across the system. Nurses love communicating by Apple Watch, Desai said.
Apple is engaging in research studies in which participants share their data.
"What I'm really intrigued by is finding researchers who use our products in amazing use cases," Desai said.
A new Studio Display lineup is designed to pair with Macs across a wide range of professional workflows. Apple has introduced DICOM medical presets that adjust the contrast and brightness of CT, MRI or X-ray images to optimize visibility of specific tissues.
"We're excited about where we can do things on the sensing space in a scientifically grounded way," Desai said of spatial computing.
Desai oversees the development of products for Apple. It's a long process that often takes years.
Apple closely validates its products to make sure they don't lead to what Desai called "unnecessary noise" for the health system, physician or patient.
"We obsess about having false positives," Desai said.
Apple has been weaving AI and machine learning to give insights to both people and clinicians.
"We do believe AI will play an increasingly vital role in people's lives," she said.
Email the writer: SMorse@himss.org