Zimmer Biomet partnering with Apple

By Alex Brown | Inside INdiana Business

Warsaw-based Zimmer Biomet Holdings Inc. (NYSE: ZBH) has announced a partnership with Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) to assist patients undergoing knee and hip replacement surgeries. Zimmer Biomet has developed an app for the iPhone and Apple Watch designed to improve the connection between patients and their surgical care teams.

The app, known as Zimmer Biomet mymobility, will allow surgeons to send education and therapy reminders directly to a patient's iPhone or Apple Watch. It also allows surgeons to monitor patient activity levels throughout the days and weeks before and after surgery.

Zimmer Biomet has also begun the mymobility Clinical Study, which the company says will study the app's impact on patient outcomes and overall costs for joint replacement patients. Researchers will use activity data from the app, along with patient-reported feedback, to learn about the power of the app's impact on the standard of care for joint replacement surgeries.

"We believe one of the best ways to empower consumers is by giving them the ability to use their health and activity information to improve their own care," said Jeff Williams, chief operating officer at Apple. "We are proud to enable knee and hip replacement patients to use their own data and share it with their doctors seamlessly, so that they can participate in their care and recovery in a way not previously possible through traditional in-person visits. This solution will connect consumers with their doctors continuously, before and after surgery."

Zimmer Biomet says as many as 10,000 patients could be enrolled in the clinical study. You can learn more about the study by clicking here.