Apple Aiming to Make iPhone 'One-Stop Shop' for Medical Info

[MacRumors]

Apple wants the iPhone to serve as a comprehensive health repository for every iPhone user, keeping track of medical data like doctors visits, lab results, medications, and more, reports CNBC.

Apple is said to have a "secretive team" within its health unit that has been communicating with developers, hospitals, and other industry groups about storing clinical data on the iPhone. With all of their medical data at their fingertips, iPhone users would have a better overall picture of their health, which could also be readily shared with doctors.

Apple has been hiring developers familiar with protocols dictating the transfer of electronic health records and has talked with several health IT industry groups, including "The Argonaut Project," which promotes the adoption of open standards for health information, and "The Carin Alliance," a group aiming to give patients more control over their medical data. According to CNBC, Apple VP of software technology Bud Tribble has been working with the latter group.

Apple is also rumored to be looking at startups in the cloud hosting space for acquisitions that would fit into its health plan.

Essentially, Apple would be trying to recreate what it did with music -- replacing CDs and scattered MP3s with a centralized management system in iTunes and the iPod -- in the similarly fragmented and complicated landscape for health data.

Such a move would represent a deviation in strategy from Apple's previous efforts in health care, the people said, which have focused on fitness and wellness.

A centralized way to store all of a person's health data would allow the medical community to overcome existing barriers that prevent the transfer of patient information between medical providers. Hospitals and doctors offices often don't have a simple way to transfer patient information, and online medical portals are sometimes difficult to use with little info available to patients,

Apple already allows iPhone users to record medical data and health information gathered by the Apple Watch and other connected devices in the built-in Health app, and it has delved into health research with CareKit and ResearchKit, but based on these rumors, the company's goal is to expand its health efforts far further in the future.

Article Link: Apple Aiming to Make iPhone 'One-Stop Shop' for Medical Info

 

[zz2k9]

Coming to the NHS.... NEVER

 

[msew]

Apple wants the iPhone to serve as a comprehensive health repository for every iPhone user, keeping track of medical data like doctors visits, lab results, medications, and more, reports CNBC.

Apple is said to have a "secretive team" within its health unit that has been communicating with developers, hospitals, and other industry groups about storing clinical data on the iPhone. With all of their medical data at their fingertips, iPhone users would have a better overall picture of their health, which could also be readily shared with doctors.

Apple has been hiring developers familiar with protocols dictating the transfer of electronic health records and has talked with several health IT industry groups, including "The Argonaut Project," which promotes the adoption of open standards for health information, and "The Carin Alliance," a group aiming to give patients more control over their medical data. According to CNBC, Apple VP of software technology Bud Tribble has been working with the latter group.

Apple is also rumored to be looking at startups in the cloud hosting space for acquisitions that would fit into its health plan.A centralized way to store all of a person's health data would allow the medical community to overcome existing barriers that prevent the transfer of patient information between medical providers. Hospitals and doctors offices often don't have a simple way to transfer patient information, and online medical portals are sometimes difficult to use with little info available to patients,

Apple already allows iPhone users to record medical data and health information gathered by the Apple Watch and other connected devices in the built-in Health app, and it has delved into health research with CareKit and ResearchKit, but based on these rumors, the company's goal is to expand its health efforts far further in the future.

Article Link: Apple Aiming to Make iPhone 'One-Stop Shop' for Medical Info

[doublepost=1497491738][/doublepost]I wish Apple health kept track of vaccines

 

[Plutonius]

Not interested at all.

Hopefully, they have a setting to turn this off.

 

[kebrone]

Health is and will one of the most important topics now. People are becoming more and more obsessed specially look and thereby health. Health business will be the next big thing for income. Please be aware of not sharing all your health information with everyone. I myself trust Apple, but not hackers!

 

[xxray]

Haven't we been hearing this same thing for years?

 

[radiology]

Easier said than done. Electronic medical records are extremely complex and heavily regulated at multiple different levels. Believe it or not, but they are one of the main reasons for physician's burnout. Yes, the iPhone could help patients keep track of trivial things, but would not be able to replace the current EMR systems. Not even if TC becomes the next president.

 

[AngerDanger]

Apple Aiming to Make iPhone 'One-Stop Shop' for Medical Info

"One-Stop Shop" is such an odd way to word this. It sounds like Apple intends to sell medical info.

 

[coolbreeze]

Get the watch FDA certified then we'll talk.

 

[myrtlebee]

Medical ID quite possibly saved my life. This past March I had a medical emergency and was unable to speak when asked questions by the medics, but was just barely able to pull up Medical ID from the lock screen before going completely out of it. I hope to see more features like this, and I'm glad Apple is investing in this field.

***Public Service Announcement (or more like a friendly plea to everyone here): Set up and make sure your Medical ID is up to date and become familiar with how to access it fast - it may just save your life!***

 

[charlituna]

I have a couple of doctors who have online portals for my patient notes. I love the idea of encouraging more doctors to do this and also set up ways we can, if we wish, import that data into our health apps. And also go the other way. Be able to export info into our portals for doctors. Again all voluntary but why not allow us the choice

 

[mistasopz]

In the future I look forward to Siri telling me my blood pressure is rising when I try to get Apple Maps to work properly.

 

[moxxham]

This is great. Pair this with a future Apple Watch that can track blood glucose levels and it would be a show stopper. Glucose and constant heart rate monitoring could do wonders, even for healthy people. Imagine getting alerts when your levels are too high or you have an abnormal heart rate. Combining all this health data plus your exercise data into one app would be fantastic. Cant wait to see what the next couple of years bring.

 

[Stella]

I'd like a national standard.

Not Apple proprietary.

 

[JPSaltzman]

Can we trust this as much as we can trust anything that's stored in iCloud? Given Apple's past track record.....

 

[jeremiah256]

I'd like a national standard.

Not Apple proprietary.

I'm guessing there is some HIPAA regulation on records standardization. The data might be on a proprietary device, using a proprietary application, but the data is easily exported as needed because it is required to be formatted a certain way.

 

[goobot]

Can we trust this as much as we can trust anything that's stored in iCloud? Given Apple's past track record.....

I don't think health data is stored in the cloud.

 

[Corbets1979]

I'm not sure the team needs to be "secret". Hasn't this been the obvious goal ever since they introduced HealthKit?

 

[Velin]

Very smart. And useful.

 

[FelixDerKater]

And then the doctor and insurer will download the exercise data at your visits.

 

[tennisproha]

This would be huge if Apple can put it together. Medical record keeping is beyond fragmented, at best.

It's almost better if Apple does this right because they would have to make it extremely private, by extension of their already strong stance on data privacy. They can't exactly say data privacy, except for medical data, without having people come out with their pitchforks.

Definitely a good investment on their part. I just hope they might make it open source because once they put it together, others will follow suit with their own systems and make they whole this fragmented in a different sense once more. Similar to what happened with iMessage.

 

[ipedro]

I really like the idea behind this. It's always irked me how my doctor keeps a detailed history of my health which I don't have access to.

That's backwards.

I should have full access to all my health history, including all lab tests, X-rays and doctors notes on my visits and then I should be able to share it with relevant specialists or health institutions who are taking care of me. If I visit a hospital, I tap my iPhone or Apple Watch on a terminal to give them instant access to my history. If I stop dealing with that hospital, I can revoke access.

 

[Stefan johansson]

[doublepost=1497491738][/doublepost]I wish Apple health kept track of vaccines

Can be done by yourself in either calendar or notes.

 

[pat500000]

One stop shop to seek out another person's info.

bit worrisome aint it?

 

[Stefan johansson]

This is great. Pair this with a future Apple Watch that can track blood glucose levels and it would be a show stopper. Glucose and constant heart rate monitoring could do wonders, even for healthy people. Imagine getting alerts when your levels are too high or you have an abnormal heart rate. Combining all this health data plus your exercise data into one app would be fantastic. Cant wait to see what the next couple of years bring.

For me,the problem is,that when I need it most,I could not use my Apple products for these tasks anyway. No existing Apple device works in the environment where I do my job,at 50-75 fathoms depth in polar sea.
Let's hope Apple develop a diver watch/computer,would be appreciated with health surveillance when I work.
[doublepost=1497500697][/doublepost]

I'd like a national standard.

Not Apple proprietary.

Migrate to north Europe,we got national systems that don't need wearable electronics to work.