Veterans to get iPhone health record access this summer
The Department of Veterans Affairs plans to release a new capability this summer that will allow veterans who receive care from the VA to access their health records on Apple iPhones.
Using the iPhone’s Health app, veterans will be able to “see an aggregated view of their allergies, conditions, immunizations, lab results, medications, procedures and vitals,” according to the VA. And because the app’s Health Records feature works with other private health care providers, it will allow veterans to bring together their data from multiple providers, including the VA, in one place.
“When patients have better access to their health information, they have more productive conversations with their physicians,” said Jeff Williams, Apple’s COO. “By bringing Health Records on iPhone to VA patients, we hope veterans will experience improved healthcare that will enhance their lives.”
Within 24 hours of visiting a VA facility, veterans will be able to access their updated health information in Apple’s Health app. The department says it expects to expand access to other platforms down the line.
This capability is driven by the VA’s development of the Veterans Health API, announced in December.
“Our Health API represents the next stage in the evolution of VA’s patient data access capability,” VA Secretary Robert Wilkie said in a statement. “By building upon the Veterans Health API, we’re raising the bar in collaborating with private sector organizations to create and deploy innovative digital products for Veterans. Veterans should be able to access their health data at any time, and I’m proud of how far we’ve come to accomplishing this.”
VA is touting the iPhone function as an evolution of veterans’ ability to access their health records more easily, beginning with VA Blue Button in 2010.
