In an effort to curb rising medical costs and monitor patients remotely, 14 hospitals in the U.S. are currently running pilot programs with Apple Inc.’s HealthKit service, with more in talks to also participate.

The hospitals confirmed their participation to Reuters, who polled 23 of the top hospitals in the U.S.

Apple’s HealthKit service collates patient-generated health information such as blood pressure, weight or heart rate from a variety of connected health and fitness devices. Hospitals hope that HealthKit will help doctors to better monitor patients with chronic conditions such as diabetes and hypertension.

It is in a hospital’s best interest if a doctor identifies potential health problems early on and heads off complications that may lead to health issues becoming acute. Under new U.S. government guidelines hospitals are penalized for repeat admissions that could have been avoided.

According to Reuters, Apple has a head start over competitors Google Inc. and Samsung Electronics, which have similar services, as they have only recently started contacting hospitals and other health care partners.

A number of the hospitals contacted by Reuters said that they are “eager to try pilots of the Google Fit service” since the majority of smartphones run Google’s Android mobile operating system.

The opportunity is significant with the U.S. healthcare market reportedly worth $3 trillion. According to IDC Health Insights, by 2018 70 percent of healthcare organization worldwide will invest in technology including apps, wearables, remote monitoring and virtual care.

One of the hospitals polled by Reuters is working with Apple and Epic Systems on the pilot program and is using HealthKit to track the blood pressure of hundreds of high-risk patients.

“If we had more data, like daily weights, we could give the patient a call before they need to be hospitalized,” Chief Clinical Transformation Officer Dr. Richard Milani told Reuters.

According to Apple, more than 600 developers are incorporating HealthKit into their health and fitness apps. That is a treasure trove of information doctors can use. And the Apple Watch, due for release in April, also has a strong health and fitness focus and will add its own set of data which a patient can choose to share with their healthcare provider to facilitate better medical care.

Screenshot: SiliconANGLE via Apple Inc.