Apple's Health Records Feature Will Be Available Soon to U.S. Veterans

[mi7chy]

The MyHealthEVet is one of the worst sites I've ever had to navigate (It has been getting better lately), But I, in the last few days, needed to get data from my labs. It takes 10 clicks, plus typing in a username and password, just to get to the data I need. And that knowing exactly how to get to it, the first time I tried I spend 15 minutes just trying to figure out where I needed to be. If it's in the health app it would be so much easier to get to.

I don't know what site you're looking at but after authenticating on MyHealthEVet it takes two clicks to access latest lab. It may not be the prettiest but it's functional and easy and that's more important to the gov/military.

This is not social network. This is private health data and should be treated like your financial accounts or ATM access so should only be displayed when needed with authentication and not presented all the time.

 

[4jasontv]

Or move to the greatest country on Earth!

Someone needs to watch The Newsroom.

 

[npmacuser5]

My medical provider a stickler for security and they participate in this program. I like the access using one app. Good job Veterans Administration. Also very fortunate Veteran that does not require the VA medical at this time and has the resources to own Apple Products.

 

[pdaholic]

Given the numerous companies involved and the variety of different setups within a given company's application, the electronic medical record is incredibly fragmented from one provider to the next. I see this as a possible step towards uniformity, which is a good thing.

 

[truthertech]

So, do we know who paid for this and what it cost?

My medical provider a stickler for security and they participate in this program. I like the access using one app. Good job Veterans Administration. Also very fortunate Veteran that does not require the VA medical at this time and has the resources to own Apple Products.

If you know any vets who are wondering about the price of iPhones, remember to tell them there are plenty of low cost options, such as refurbished phones that don't cost anymore than the cheap, throwaway Androids, so they will not have to sacrifice quality and privacy and use an Android.

 

[4jasontv]

If you know any vets who are wondering about the price of iPhones, remember to tell them there are plenty of low cost options, such as refurbished phones that don't cost anymore than the cheap, throwaway Androids, so they will not have to sacrifice quality and privacy and use an Android.

You misunderstand. Someone paid for this service. Did I pay as an Apple stockholder, or did I pay as a US citizen?

 

[drewsof07]

You misunderstand. Someone paid for this service. Did I pay as an Apple stockholder, or did I pay as a US citizen?

Short answer: As a taxpayer.
Long answer: The HITECH act, part of the ARRA stimulus package mandated vendor compliance newly established technical standards used to send specific pieces of your electronic medical record between systems. Look to the legislators in the house and senate in 2008-2009 if you want to apply blame.

Source: I've worked healthcare IT for the last 10 years. Bringing systems into compliance was my job for the first 5.

I actually approached Apple's Healthcare arm about integrating our systems last summer, at that point they were still developing a universal API.

 

[truthertech]

You misunderstand. Someone paid for this service. Did I pay as an Apple stockholder, or did I pay as a US citizen?

You paid as a stockholder. Apple had its engineers work on the app and with the VA. Altruism and corporate good citizenry aside, the return on this modest investment is likely to be many times greater in terms of goodwill and sales.

 

[gaximus]

I don't know what site you're looking at but after authenticating on MyHealthEVet it takes two clicks to access latest lab. It may not be the prettiest but it's functional and easy and that's more important to the gov/military.

This is not social network. This is private health data and should be treated like your financial accounts or ATM access so should only be displayed when needed with authentication and not presented all the time.

Navigate to VA site
Click login
Type in username and password (3 clicks or 1 click and 2 tabs and an enter)
Click health records
Click VA Blue button records report
Click at least one report type (assuming date range is what you want)
Click submit
Click view PDF
Click ok that you understand that opening a pdf on a public computer can be a bad idea
And TADA. Your labs.

Or open health app
(Have the lab results that most important to you set as favorite)
Tap on the labs you want to see.

Both option have the same security. I use biometrics to save my password for the VA and even removing those steps it’s still 8 clicks to get to vital information

And you are right it is private health data and should not be treated like a social network but what is wrong with having both options. People on here are acting like having the option is worse than not having the option.

 

[mi7chy]

Navigate to VA site
Click login
Type in username and password (3 clicks or 1 click and 2 tabs and an enter)
Click health records
Click VA Blue button records report
Click at least one report type (assuming date range is what you want)
Click submit
Click view PDF
Click ok that you understand that opening a pdf on a public computer can be a bad idea
And TADA. Your labs.

That seems to be the long way.

Assuming one has premium account, after authenticating:

1. Click on Labs and Tests to see list of labs ordered by date.
2. Click on one of the dated labs to view. You can then copy/paste the data or print to PDF.

 

[extrachrispy]

Given the VA's history as The Place Where Health Records Go to Die, this will be a boon. Fort Bliss has no record of the care my gf received in Temple (Ft. Hood), which has no record of the care she received in Roseburg. There has been *some* sharing between Roseburg and OSHU, but it's pitiful. Were she not careful enough to have a copy of her records on a thumb drive, none of the VA hospitals would have any knowledge of what the others have done for (to) her.

Getting veterans' health records into iOS will be invaluable at reducing incompetent, indifferent malpractice at the VA.

 

[TheAppleFairy]

still waiting, I think it’s going to be a while.