Apple's latest move into the healthcare space involves a new partnership with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs that allows veterans to view their medical information through the iPhone's Health app.
Apple CEO Tim Cook told NPR on Feb. 11 that the goal of the partnership is to allow veterans to view their medical and prescription history all in one spot. The company initially launched its health records project in early 2018 to integrate patient health data from various providers into a central location on the iPhone's Health app. The initiative kicked off at 12 hospitals, including Danville, Pa.-based Geisinger and Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins Medicine.
"This is part of our overall effort to really empower the patient. We can't wait to serve ... a population of folks that we really have great reverence for," he said.
VA leaders and other federal officials reportedly agreed to the deal because of Apple's commitment to security and privacy. Mr. Cook has been vocal about privacy issues in recent years, and has called out other tech giants for using users' data for ads, according to NPR.
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