Apple Health Records is now available to all patients at Doylestown Hospital.
Doylestown Hospital, located in Pennsylvania, announced that it now supports Apple Health Records on the iPhone, which makes it easy for patients to access their medical data whenever they choose.
“Doylestown Hospital is pleased to offer our patients this convenient option when it comes to viewing their health information,” said Lynn Miller, director of applications for Doylestown Hospital.
Patients who use an iPhone and have the Apple Health Records app, can now access their health data that’s available in the Doylestown Hospital patient portal. Using this app, consumers will be able to see their medications, allergies, immunizations, lab results, procedures, and vitals, and will receive notifications when their data is updated.
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Instead of logging in to multiple provider websites or attempting to find paper copies of their medical records, the patient will have access to their medical information right on their iPhone. With Apple Health Records, consumers will have health information from participating organizations merged into the same platform.
“We hope patients will make use of this secure technology to stay up to date on their health data and take an active approach to managing their health, all through their iPhone,” said Miller.
Apple Health Records is becoming more and more prevalent in health systems across the country, making the patient care experience more convenient and easily accessible.
Apple worked with the healthcare community to take a consumer-friendly approach, creating Health Records based on FHIR (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources), a standard for transferring electronic medical records. This allows third-party app developers to plug their platforms into Health Records, aggregating all patient data into a single interface.
With Allscripts announcing that Apple Health Records is now available for Allscripts Sunrise, TouchWorks and Professional EHR clients and their patients, the app is becoming more prevalent throughout health systems.
More recently, MEDITECH announced that it also supports Apple Health Records.
The app brings together hospitals, clinics, and other healthcare organizations to simplify and streamline healthcare coordination.
“Engaging patients, driving consumer satisfaction, and delivering patient-centric care are the utmost priorities at MEDITECH,” said Howard Messing, CEO. “With health information from MEDITECH now available via Health Records on iPhone, consumers are provided one convenient, comprehensive record, enabling them to take a more proactive role in managing their own wellness.”
Apple first introduced its Health Records application programming interface (API) in June 2018. The company sought to help consumers take health data collected from their preferred mHealth apps and share it with their hospitals and clinics. Since then, several organizations have integrated the functionality into their patient portals, and research has shown that the app is generally well-received.
Android is taking a page from Apple by jumping into the healthcare scene with its own app, CommonHealth, in partnership with Cornell and the University of California San Francisco.
“Apple has shown real leadership and moved the industry forward by enabling patient access to their health information. Now CommonHealth is significantly expanding the number of people who can benefit from easy electronic access to their health records,” said JP Pollak, the CommonHealth product lead, senior researcher in residence at Cornell Tech, and assistant professor at Weill Cornell Medicine.
CommonHealth is not available to the public quite yet, but it does promise to provide patient EHR access and medical data sharing, the app’s developers said.
Android aims to fix the security issues and questions that Apple Health Records is currently facing.
“UCSF is committed to using technology to improve care for all of our patients,” said Russ Cucina, chief health information officer for UCSF Health. “The CommonHealth project will ensure that more of our patients have access to their health information, and that they can share it responsibly with the growing health technology sector.”
Source: EHR Intelligence