While the most significant feature of iOS 11.3 could be the ability to disable Apple's performance throttling update, it also brings plenty of other new options. One of the most interesting of these is the ability for users to access their medical records on a device.
The Cupertino company has announced that the health records will appear in the updated Health Data section within the Health App. Rumors that Apple would be adding this feature have been around for a few months, and now it's arrived in the beta version of iOS 11.3.
"In the past, patients' medical records were held in multiple locations, requiring patients to log into each care provider's website and piece together the information manually. Apple worked with the healthcare community to take a consumer-friendly approach, creating Health Records based on FHIR (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources), a standard for transferring electronic medical records," wrote Apple.
Apple is working with 12 hospitals during the initial beta---you can see the full list of these below. Patients simply need to opt-in to have the records sent to their device and they'll receive a notification when a new one arrives. The company pointed out that the data is encrypted and protected with the user's iPhone passcode (or touch TouchID/FaceID).
The data pulls together a person's existing online health records, organizing them into seven different categories within the app: allergies, clinical visits, conditions, immunizations, lab results, medications, and procedures.
Not only will this feature make it easier for people to see their medical records, but Apple says its will also make them easier to understand.
More hospitals will be joining the program over the coming months, though it remains to be seen just how many decide to sign up. Here's the full list of those that have joined so far.
- Johns Hopkins Medicine - Baltimore, Maryland
- Cedars-Sinai - Los Angeles, California
- Penn Medicine - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Geisinger Health System - Danville, Pennsylvania
- UC San Diego Health - San Diego, California
- UNC Health Care - Chapel Hill, North Carolina
- Rush University Medical Center - Chicago, Illinois
- Dignity Health - Arizona, California and Nevada
- Ochsner Health System - Jefferson Parish, Louisiana
- MedStar Health - Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia
- OhioHealth - Columbus, Ohio
- Cerner Health Clinic - Kansas City, Missouri