Apple Brings Health Records on iPhone to the UK and Canada

Apple has today announced that access to Health Records on the iPhone is now available in the UK and Canada, providing a fuller, more secure picture of patient health.

Apple iphone 11 uk en summary 10072020

The existing Health app on the ‌iPhone‌ can now display full health records, enabling users to securely view and store their medical records from healthcare institutions in the UK and Canada. Oxford University Hospitals in the UK and Women's College Hospital in Canada are among the first healthcare institutions to make this feature available to their patients.

"We designed Health Records on iPhone to empower people to easily view their health records at any time, and we are thrilled to put this feature in the hands of customers in the UK and Canada," said Apple's vice president of Technology, Kevin Lynch. "We believe people should have access to their health information in the most private and secure way, and we have worked hand in hand with healthcare institutions and organizations to put privacy at the center of the patient experience."

The feature has been available in the United States for some time, with support from over 500 institutions and 11,000 care locations.

Health Records in the Health app allows users to automatically consolidate records held in multiple locations, without the need for manual logins for each healthcare provider, making for much easier access.

"At NHSX, we are committed to giving patients access to their own records so they can take charge of their healthcare," said Matthew Gould, CEO of NHSX. "The launch of Health Records on iPhone in the UK is a positive step and joins a number of initiatives across the NHS to put patients in the driving seat."

Health Records integration creates a direct encrypted connection between medical institutions and a patient's ‌iPhone‌, allowing users to see a single view of their allergies, conditions, immunizations, lab results, medications, procedures, and vitals. Users can also be notified when their data is updated.

"Improving our services to patients while protecting their privacy and security is of paramount importance to us," Professor Sir Jonathan Montgomery commented, chair of Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and professor of healthcare law at University College London. "This exciting development provides a more convenient option for patients to access their health records. Patients retain control over their own health information at all times."

Apple has worked closely in recent months with Cerner, Epic, Allscripts, and InterSystems to enable the FHIR (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources) standard integration with the Health app for their UK and Canadian patients.

"Women's College Hospital is proud to be among the first in Canada to offer Health Records on iPhone," Heather McPherson, president and CEO of Women's College Hospital said. "As we accelerate our virtual care strategy, we are committed to shaping a health system that people can navigate more effectively. We believe that digital tools like Health Records can contribute to more informed decision making and improve the healthcare experience."

So far only the following institutions in the UK and Canada support the feature:

UK

  • Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust - Oxford, UK
  • Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust - Milton Keynes, UK

Canada

  • Women's College Hospital - Toronto, Ontario
  • St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton - Hamilton, Ontario
  • Mackenzie Health - Richmond Hill, Ontario

Apple says that more medical facilities will connect to Health Records and offer patient access in the coming months.

Top Rated Comments

BulkSlash Avatar
45 months ago
Based on past experience the NHS will be running it off an Excel spreadsheet and will blame Apple for not weakening iOS' security model when it doesn't work.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
polyphenol Avatar
45 months ago

Last time i looked Scotland was still part of the UK...
That was the point of the comment.

While the Apple side might be available right now, it was lamented it might not be available in Scotland for ten years.

Very often "NHS" actually means "NHS England". Not the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Ireland NHS organisations. And it might not be available in the other three parts of the UK for a long time yet. The story completely misses this separation.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
daveak Avatar
45 months ago

Yeah anything that has anything to do with the NHS, forget about it. In general, the NHS in the U.K. still runs like an archaic relic from the Victorian age. Literally don’t know where the billions of pounds that gets pumped into it goes. Hospitals still run on spreadsheets and paper and pen. It’s embarrassing.
Where does the money go? Paying over a million staff isn’t cheap and is probably the largest single component. Buildings, drugs, research, IT, food, equipment, admin (lower than comparable systems), vehicle maintenance, data analysis and probably a lot more I can’t think of.

Just because you don’t comprehend the scale of things doesn’t mean the money is all wasted. This isn’t a dig at you, it is normal to not understand large systems, but don’t take your information from sources like the Daily Mail or The Express.

Yes there are inefficiencies such as in procurement not being allowed to just buy from a local vendor at a much lower price, but overall it is not that wasteful.

If you wonder where billions go now just wait until we have privatised systems and it is costing much much more for far far less.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Unggoy Murderer Avatar
45 months ago
We'll be lucky if this is available in Scotland within the next 10 years.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Marbles1 Avatar
45 months ago
There's already an NHS app - works in England and I assume Wales, not sure about Scotland or NI.

It gives you access to your GP record; mine goes back decades, quite impressed all the data is there.

I'm not quite sure this bizarre Americanised 'add your hospital or clinic' system Apple have applies that well to the UK. Do I need to add every hospital or NHS specialist centre I might have visited?
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
markfc Avatar
45 months ago
How about you ****ing fix the current health app that iOS 14 broke?

no HR, GPS, Calorie Data or workout being recorded still over 3 weeks after release...
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)

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