Apple is testing a new feature to give you access to medical records on your devices
It seems Apple's ongoing work to give consumers access to their health records via their devices is finally coming to fruition, as the company's COO Jeff Williams confirmed to CNBC that testing is underway.
The new tool will be stored in Apple's Health app, allowing the user to add a health provider in the health records section. A few taps and boom, you have access to your records, provided your health care provider has an agreement (more on that in a minute).
The big advantage of this: easier sharing across multiple providers. If you've ever moved, switched doctors, or seen specialists who aren't in the same health care network as your main doctor, you know how much of a time-consuming pain it can be getting necessary records and data shared between those offices. This will make it much easier.
Of course, there's a big risk in having that much personal information available on a device, in an age where hacks and device theft are pretty commonplace. Apple says the information — which will include allergies, lab results, and medications — will be encrypted and protected through your personal passcode.
“Our goal is to help consumers live a better day. We’ve worked closely with the health community to create an experience everyone has wanted for years — to view medical records easily and securely right on your iPhone. By empowering customers to see their overall health, we hope to help consumers better understand their health and help them lead healthier lives,” Williams said in a company statement.
The new feature will be included in the iOS 11.3 beta and records will be accessible to patients of a dozen health institutions, including Cedars-Sinai, Oschner, and Johns Hopkins Medicine. More are expected in the coming months.
Apple's been working hard on integrating healthcare information for a few years, and we heard rumblings of this attempt to create a health data bank back in June 2017.
Health care has been a huge focus for Apple, particularly since the introduction of the Apple Watch in 2015 and, subsequently, the introduction of open-sourced platforms ResearchKit in 2015 and CareKit in 2016. With these kind of tools available, there have already been several notable health-related projects revved up by developers.
And there's been more hard evidence of Apple's determination to make health data a big part of what they do. Besides its big workout facility where the company is collecting astounding amounts of data, there's the project to detect irregular heartbeats and Tim Cook's fancy glucose-tracking prototype.
Marcus Gilmer is Mashable's Assistant Real-Times News Editor on the West Coast, reporting on breaking news from his location in San Francisco. An Alabama native, Marcus earned his BA from Birmingham-Southern College and his MFA in Communications from the University of New Orleans. Marcus has previously worked for Chicagoist, The A.V. Club, the Chicago Sun-Times and the San Francisco Chronicle.
