Reuters reported that Apple Inc.’s healthcare technology seems to be in the lead as hospitals seek to better monitor patients remotely and to lower costs.

Reuters reported that 14 of 23  leading hospitals it contacted said they are using a pilot program of Apple’s HealthKit service — a repository for  such patient-generated health information as blood pressure, weight or heart rate – ”or are in talks to do so.”

The  aim ”to help physicians monitor patients with such chronic conditions as diabetes and hypertension” Reuters says that such Apple rivals  as Google and Samsung Electronics  ”are only just starting to reach out to hospitals and other medical partners.”