Apple iPhone's latest software update, iOS 15, launched Sept. 20 and will allow users to share their Health app data with their physicians, according to a Sept. 20 report by The Verge.
Five things to know:
- Apple unveiled the health record-sharing initiative June 7. Patients can share data collected on their Health app, such as heart rate and time exercising.
- Six EHR companies are participating in the launch, including Cerner, Allscripts, Meditech and DrChrono. Any hospital that uses Cerner's EHR can implement tools to be interoperable with Apple's health-sharing feature. However, they will have to balance implementing these tools with COVID-19 surges, Sam Lambson, vice president of interoperability at Cerner, told The Verge.
- "Once our client organizations have seen a demo and understand it, the questions are mostly around how quickly they can get it implemented," Mr. Lambson said.
- Some healthcare organizations that use Allscripts have already implemented the feature through a pilot program and have been using it with a few patients. Tina Joros, vice president and general manager at Allscripts, said a test group was particularly excited about the ability for patients to take their blood pressure at home. The cuff that is typically recommended to patients can sync with the Health app and share the data with their physicians.
- DrChrono and Allscripts will track how often the feature is used by hospitals and healthcare providers.