Apple is making it a little easier for veterans to access their health records. The company has announced that it will now allow veterans to access their health records straight from their iPhones through the iPhone Health Records section of the Health app. The announcement is the latest move from Apple to move into health care and shows the company’s continued interest in health-related endeavors.
Health records, in general, are still difficult to access online, which is something that Apple may be looking to change. The new collaboration between Apple and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs will allow 9 million veterans to access their records. The Department of Veterans Affairs is the largest medical system in the country and the collaboration will allow veterans to see conditions, vaccinations, tests, diagnoses, and more.
“We have great admiration for veterans, and we’re proud to bring a solution like Health Records on iPhone to the veteran community,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a statement. “It’s truly an honor to contribute to the improved healthcare of America’s heroes.”
Better access to those medical records could have a significant impact on veterans. According to Apple, the goal is to help veterans have better and more productive conversations with their physicians, ultimately improving their health care.
Apple is likely to continue to build partnerships with as many medical institutions as possible. In March, Apple announced that users could access records from more than 100 hospitals in 39 different health care systems. As a report from The Wall Street Journal notes, linking health records to different apps could allow for things like automatic prescription refills, reminders for appointments, and more.
The moves into health are also big steps toward giving people more control over their own health. With apps like Activity and devices like the Apple Watch, users can get a little more control over their basic everyday fitness, but with Health Records, customers could begin to have a much deeper understanding of their overall health.
“Our goal is to empower people to better understand and improve their health, enabling them to view their medical information from multiple providers in one place easily and securely,” Apple Vice President of technology Kevin Lynch said in a statement. “We’re excited to bring this feature to veterans across the U.S.”
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