“Apple announced on Monday that it’s working with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to bring health records to the iPhone,” Christina Farr reports for CNBC. “That means that vets receiving their care from the VA will be able to see medical information like allergies, immunizations, labs and procedures directly on their iPhones with just a few clicks.”
“Apple already works with dozens of hospitals that are integrated with its Health Records software, so their patients can access clinical information. But the VA, which represents 9 million people, is a big step forward for the company, as it’s the largest medical system in the country,” Farr reports. “It’s also a big deal for people who aren’t veterans.”
“‘The barriers are coming down,’ said Kenneth Mandl, a director of computational health informatics at Boston Children’s Hospital and a longtime advocate of the ‘App Store for health’ concept. ‘And Apple is a first mover in taking advantage of these new laws and regulations,’ he explained… Mandl believes it’s only a matter of time before commercial insurers and other groups follow suit,” Farr reports. “As this trend continues, anyone with a smartphone will someday be able to see their clinical record (what happened when they got treated at a hospital or clinic), and their claims history (what got billed). That unified data set will also open up a lot of opportunities for health app developers that can generate important new insights.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Hopefully, Apple can deliver secure, life-saving portable electronic health records to us all ASAP!
One of the biggest issues in healthcare in the U.S. today is that there is no “Quartberback” – someone running the effort, coordinating the various specialists, making sure everyone is on the same page with the treatment plan(s), drug interactions, allergies, etc. A “playbook” showing the full picture of the patient’s health data would be very useful – and let the disparate medical personnel each quarterback on their own. Hopefully, Apple can step in, build, and fulfill this need with the company’s vaunted security and privacy. — MacDailyNews, August 22, 2016
How much this would improve healthcare cannot be overstated. Apple will save lives here. — MacDailyNews, June 15, 2017
SEE ALSO:
Apple announces Health Records feature coming to American veterans – February 11, 2019
Apple launches online store with 10 percent discount for active U.S. Military, National Guard, Reserve and veterans – December 3, 2018
Apple in talks to give U.S. veterans access to electronic medical records – November 20, 2018
Apple working with start-up on iPhone Electronic Health Records plan – June 19, 2017
Apple’s profound iPhone plans for healthcare – June 15, 2017
Apple acquires Gliimpse – August 22, 2016
Apple rehires Flipboard co-founder Evan Doll to develop health software – August 12, 2016
Apple working on all-new, advanced health-tracking hardware; years in the making – August 9, 2016
Tim Cook hints Apple might build a health device – November 10, 2015
Apple’s Tim Cook declares the end of the PC and hints at new medical product – November 10, 2015
Apple announces new ResearchKit studies for autism, epilepsy and melanoma – October 15, 2015
GlaxoSmithKline working on integrating Apple’s revolutionary ResearchKit into clinical trials – July 13, 2015
ResearchKit, Apple’s medical data experiment, explained – May 20, 2015
Apple announces ResearchKit available today to medical researchers – April 14, 2015
Why Apple’s ResearchKit signals a golden age for health care – March 28, 2015
ResearchKit: The inside story of how Apple’s revolutionary medical research platform was born – March 19, 2015
Apple’s open source ResearchKit will change the world for the better – March 9, 2015
Me am having hard time thinking of something bad to say about this. Back later.
Still can’t think of anthing bad to say about this, so I’ll just have to go for the generic — which is all I do most of the time anyway. Here goes…
Tim Cook bad. Apple bad. Hubris. Greed. Blah, blah.
👎
Already done.
We can already see our EHR via the http://www.myhealth.va.gov web site. Works fine on my iPhone, I can even download X-rays and supporting documents. There are 20 IOS/Android apps for health related stuff.
The article doesn’t mention anything new.
If you are a Fundamentalist End Timer who looks forward to the Rapture, you should like this consolidation of medical records because it points toward everyone but Rapturists getting the “mark of the beast.” I don’t believe in this fantasy. But I deplore that this consolidation aids private and governmental spy agencies who can penetrate each and every corner of the Capitalist information network no matter its location even on the most secure iPhone under the South Pole. Once the NSA penetrates the VA, then all the other 17 gov. spy agencies in the US, as well as their 5 Eyes brethren, will have it. George Bush vindictively consolidated them first including police forces after he failed to produce his WMDs. This Apple effort piles on.
Government snoops may be able to find us, but at least we’ll be healthier. Life’s full of tradeoffs, isn’t it?