Apple in Talks to Offer Veterans Access to Electronic Medical Records on iPhone

[lowendlinux]

This is a good idea as long as it's not like the VA app.

 

[EvilEvil]

This comment is ridiculous. So is that the common perception about veterans? Is that they are all poor and can't afford it? So they should lack necessary medical needs?

Actually yes. The VA barely help Vets who suffer from PTSD and other health conditions. So why would they help them buy expensive iPhones so they can use a medical app?

 

[neliason]

Tin foil hats are available at your local Safeway/Vons/Albertsons. I think they're on sale. You can even use Apple Pay to buy them. I like Reynolds Wrap myself but store brand works too.

So data hasn’t been breached? So governments have never in the history of man collected information on their subjects? So the NSA admitting it was sniffing all US email and phone communication was a lie?

 

[kruegdude]

So data hasn’t been breached? So governments have never in the history of man collected information on their subjects? So the NSA admitting it was sniffing all US email and phone communication was a lie?

Don’t forget the aliens in Area 51.

 

[neliason]

Don’t forget the aliens in Area 51.

That is a pretty asinine reply.

 

[dontwalkhand]

So data hasn’t been breached? So governments have never in the history of man collected information on their subjects? So the NSA admitting it was sniffing all US email and phone communication was a lie?

Of course the government is collecting information, no doubt about it. Whether or not your are using an Apple health app does not matter what they're collecting on you anyway. And you're going VA for heaven's sake, its already government ran, so they ALREADY have the information on you. They might as well give you access while they're at it. I believe that we should have had EHR be a requirement a long time ago, and let me have access to the data they collect. Let it be portable so I can switch doctors, have them electronically accept the data and be done with it. If youre saying it shouldnt be electronic at all, you have no business participating in the modern world, maybe move a country that barely has internet access at all, and feel right at home.

This seems like the next logical step to take, after Apple Pay. The iphone being a life device is actually a good thing. And who said anything about requiring anyone to have one? Once Apple makes it available, Android I am sure will have their own version of this (See: Google Pay, Google Play Store, Wallet passes, etc). And people get Android phones for free on government assistance (SafeLink wireless, etc) , so there goes the whole argument of "People cant afford the phone" out the door.

Now I am certain laws will make it so you cant make this be the ONLY way to get your health data, but it can definitely be de facto for the majority of us. For example, when riding a city bus in San Diego, I'm expected to download their Compass Cloud app to get on the bus. This isnt the ONLY way on the bus, but it is the de facto method.

 

[neliason]

If youre saying it shouldnt be electronic at all, you have no business participating in the modern world, maybe move a country that barely has internet access at all, and feel right at home.

Actually the people who are most protective of their data are the ones most qualified for an electronic world.

And who said anything about requiring anyone to have one?

If data is made available for anyone then it makes it easier to hack the system to get the data of someone who doesn’t want his data available.

 

[jimbobb24]

Should not be too bad. The VA has one National very crappy EMR that should not be too hard to build a phone front end for. Our veterans deserve better than the corrupt fiasco that is the VA so any bit helps.

 

[laz232]

I don't know about all of the negative nancys out there with this. Guys this is a good thing, and they have got start somewhere. They also have the same integration with the Mayo Clinic as well. Hopefully soon most hospitals and doctors offices will start supporting this as well.

The idea is this:

-Apple Wallet will hold all of your credit, debit, and other passes.
-Health will hold all of your health information and Medical ID cards.
-ONE state in the US now has a digital driver's license, Louisiana, I know Arizona is getting it next. In most states, if not all, allow you to use your car insurance on your insurance company's app.
-HomeKit to unlock your doors, set your temp, open your garage door
-Something in the car to start the car, etc.
-Many transit agencies offer apps to get on a bus/train.

The idea is that this is the ONLY thing one would need to carry with you. It is a godsend out there for men who don't have purses to lug stuff around in.

Will this be an open standards system so that the country(ies) don't end up with a commercial operator being the sole interface to data? Thereby effectively a de facto requirement of using Apple products in the future to get good service from the government?

I see this problem in the housing association where I live - information is exchanged via the Facebook group (for obvious ***** reasons). I'm not on FB and instead maintain that we should use open standards, like email for that kind of information exchange (obviously for medical data, an encrypted open protocol should be used.)

 

[dogslobber]

With all the data breaches the last thing I want is my medical data in any way available. I don’t want it electronic at all. Of course the whole purpose of electronic medical records is so the state can have easy access to it. It has never helped me. Doctors keep having me fill out the same long list of questions each time I go.

Pretty accurate. Electronic health records are a bogus concept which hasn't been needed for 100 years and isn't needed now. As soon as they're exposed to a private entity then they'll be free for all because they will be hacked which is guaranteed. Data which must not ever be exposed should never be put in an electronic form as security always fails.

FWIW, when I get those same forms I usually just leave then unfilled. I don't get much utility from going to a doctor as you only get to see a nurse nowadays.

 

[neliason]

Pretty accurate. Electronic health records are a bogus concept which hasn't been needed for 100 years and isn't needed now. As soon as they're exposed to a private entity then they'll be free for all because they will be hacked which is guaranteed. Data which must not ever be exposed should never be put in an electronic form as security always fails.

I saw this article today. Insurance companies and medical device companies track your sleep without your consent. Also in this article is the fact the medical device is cheaper if you don't have insurance. The cash price is always better. If you have insurance it is worth having an alias whereby you can get cash services from doctors when it will save you money.

https://www.propublica.org/article/you-snooze-you-lose-insurers-make-the-old-adage-literally-true

FWIW, when I get those same forms I usually just leave then unfilled. I don't get much utility from going to a doctor as you only get to see a nurse nowadays.

Pretty much. I can see my doctor if I can wait a few months. But, if I can wait a few months then I don't need a doctor.

 

[dogslobber]

I saw this article today. Insurance companies and medical device companies track your sleep without your consent.

This perversion that companies have to follow you everywhere and peek over your shoulder all the time needs to be properly framed so that there's a stigma attached to getting caught doing it. If some creep was following you then you'd fear for your safety and there would be a public backlash against it. That's what is needed here to stop this perversion these companies have.

 

[kruegdude]

That is a pretty asinine reply.

Lol Would a smiley face at the end have helped?

 

[laz232]

I saw this article today. Insurance companies and medical device companies track your sleep without your consent. Also in this article is the fact the medical device is cheaper if you don't have insurance. The cash price is always better. If you have insurance it is worth having an alias whereby you can get cash services from doctors when it will save you money.

https://www.propublica.org/article/you-snooze-you-lose-insurers-make-the-old-adage-literally-true

Pretty much. I can see my doctor if I can wait a few months. But, if I can wait a few months then I don't need a doctor.

The other problem is that we have a lot of statistics that show correlation to calculate premiums, but we don't know individual risk factors (ref. saturated fat and the French Paradox, exercise: "whereas strenuous joggers have a mortality rate not statistically different from that of the sedentary group.", cholesterol: "To date, extensive research did not show evidence to support a role of dietary cholesterol in the development of CVD. As a result, the 2015–2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans removed the recommendations of restricting dietary cholesterol to 300 mg/day."**).

So all this tracking to "improve health" is IMO highly dubious and promotes statistics rather than sound science.
But I'm sure the health insurance providers like it...

This is the big scam foisted on the American (and increasingly the other Western countries (Netherlands etc)) - bad science, wrapped in statistics and sold to the highest bidder. Even Obama's laudable attempt at healthcare reform just became healthcare insurance reform. Results: the insurance companies made out like bandits and Obama now gets $100k+ to speak at their little dinners. Sad :/ (not that the current administration is going to do any better)


*
Dose of jogging and long-term mortality: the Copenhagen City Heart Study.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25660917

**
Dietary Cholesterol and the Lack of Evidence in Cardiovascular Disease
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6024687/

 

[extrachrispy]

This is not a political post. Should not be posted here.

The VA has typically VERY technology forward when it comes to electronic medical records. They manage and maintain one of the earliest electronic medical records known at this time. CPRS/ViSTA has been around since the 1970s and is actually quite effective. It has some aspects that are a little quirky, but what medical record doesn't?

I would see the VA being willing and open to integrating with Apple. I would be quit thrilled to see an EMR solution like this available at the VA. Those who say "government hurrr durrr" don't have an understanding of the VA's ability to incorporate new technologies. They're a little slow, but they usually advance at a good pace. For instance, they have an electronic consent program that is miles ahead of the public and private institutions locally in my city. They also have a great 2 factor authentication system that is far and away the most secure implementation that I have used in my time as both a medical student and a resident physician.

I was going to rip you a new one, but instead, I suppose we could allow that this varies from VA hospital to VA hospital.

It is a FACT that many VA hospitals outright cannot transfer records between each other, even to this day. My gf has had to hand-carry hers on a USB stick, and even then, the usual VA clusterfsck is impressive (especially if it in any way involves the Roseburg, Oregon hospital).

Apple getting these records into the Health app would be a tremendous step forward, and I hope it happens.
[doublepost=1543341404][/doublepost]

So data hasn’t been breached? So governments have never in the history of man collected information on their subjects? So the NSA admitting it was sniffing all US email and phone communication was a lie?

Indeed it has. My information, along with that of many millions of others, was given away in the unimaginably incompetent/negligent OPM breach.

I would trust Apple with my data in preference to the U.S. government in a heartbeat.