Take Your Medical Records With You – Everywhere

With the upcoming release of Apple’s iOS update this spring, the Health app will now include health records, so patients can take information about their immunizations, medications, lab results and more with them on the go. The feature will first be available to patients of medical providers who partnered with Apple, including Johns Hopkins Medicine, OhioHealth, Ochsner Health System in Jefferson Parish, La., and Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles; Apple’s announcement says more medical facilities will offer this feature in the coming months.

With this added feature to the app, transferring information will be easier for patients who have to move or go to a specialist. Patients will be able to see records such as conditions, immunizations, visits and medication they’ve received in the past, which won’t allow them to make the mistake of taking something that hasn’t worked for them.

Because patients no longer have to enter or scan their own data, this makes it simpler to use, which will create a wide user base. The 21st Century Cures Act of 2016  also pushed federal agencies and providers to use electronic health records; now there is a data standard for personal health records, which wasn’t the case in 2011 when Google Health tried to use a similar health record service.