Blood glucose monitor manufacturers are working to make their data easily accessible and analyzable by patients and healthcare providers. But that's a tall order for this industry segment, which has historically been focused on making tracking easier, cheaper and more convenient rather than more useful.

Several major blood glucose monitor and insulin pump players including Dexcom ($DXCM), Medtronic ($MDT) and Insulet ($PODD) have partnered with startup Glooko to help extract blood glucose data and provide analysis of it via inclusion in an app and medical records. Royal Philips ($PHG) also recently launched a diabetes initiative designed to integrate all the relevant health data for diabetics into an overarching app.

Now Johnson & Johnson ($JNJ) has opted to become the first big blood glucose player to directly support the Apple Health app. Its OneTouch Verio Sync meter, marketed via J&J company LifeScan, is already designed to connect wirelessly with its own mobile app, but now that data also syncs with the Apple Health app. This enables the integration of diabetes data into broader overall health tracking.

"Management needs to be approached holistically--looking not only at blood glucose levels, but also insights gleaned from how factors like diet and exercise, as well as insulin and other medications impact individual treatment regimens, said LifeScan CMO Dr. Brian Levy in a statement.

"The only way this can be done successfully is by allowing patients to gather, combine, and share their data in ways that are easier and more intuitive for them," he concluded.

J&J developed this as part of a collaboration across its diabetes companies that include blood glucose monitor company LifeScan as well as insulin pump plyer Animas, 3-day wearable insulin patch developer Calibra Medical that the conglomerate acquired in 2012 and the Johnson & Johnson Diabetes Institute, which is a non-commercial educational initiative.

The company made the announcement in advance of World Diabetes Day on Nov. 14. As part of that, LifeScan will donate 1.3 million blood glucose monitoring test strips to the International Diabetes Federation for diabetic children in underserved countries.

Almost 400 million people globally have diabetes.