Milton Keynes University Hospital (MKUH) has become one of the first hospitals in the UK to enable patients to view their consolidated health care records directly within the Health app on their iPhone.
The feature, which launched at only a handful of UK hospitals today (7/10) means patients can chose to create a direct connection between the hospital and their iPhone, allowing them to see a central view of their medical record including lab results, medications, procedures, allergies, conditions, vital signs and immunizations . It also notifies patients when their data is updated.
The Health Records feature is part of the Health app, which also shows activity, heart rate, nutrition and other health data consolidated from iPhone, Apple Watch and HealthKit-enabled third-party apps.
MKUH have spent the last three years trailblazing in the digital world of health care and already have more than 70,000 patients registered to their MyCARE app which allows them to book and change appointments, access hospital correspondence and information from their smartphone. Health Records on iPhone provides another option to ensure patients have access to available hospital data from within their electronic patient record (EPR).
MKUH Chief Executive, Professor Joe Harrison, said: “This is a really exciting step for the hospital and our patients. We continually hear from our patients that they want more autonomy over their health care - having access to their health records is the key part of this, so this is a momentous step forward.
“Accessing their health records via the Health app on iPhone provides another great option for patients to view their health data. Clinicians will still contact patients to discuss their care and any test results. It just means patients have the additional opportunity to view this information on their iPhone.
“We are living in a modern world, in which people organise every aspect of their lives online. At MKUH, we want to be at the forefront of making sure the NHS allows patients to do the same.”
Patients can access Health Records from within the Health app and can download their health records by selecting Milton Keynes University Hospital and authenticating with their existing MyCARE credentials. Patients are invited to register with MKUH’s MyCARE patient portal once they come into the care of specific hospital services.
Oxford University Hospitals have also launched Health Records on iPhone today, which is another positive step for Milton Keynes patients. MKUH refer some patients to Oxford’s specialist services and this technology means that these patients can view their records from both hospitals in one place.
Health Records on iPhone was designed to protect patients’ privacy through utilising a direct, encrypted connection between the user’s iPhone and the healthcare organisation. Downloaded health records data is stored on-device and encrypted with the user’s iPhone passcode, Touch ID or Face ID.
Craig York, MKUH’s Chief Technology Officer, said: “It has been fantastic working with Apple, alongside our MyCARE developers Zesty and EPR provider Cerner, to improve the lives of our patients and give them access to all of the information they have been asking for. This is a great example of our commitment to a digital first, person-centred, approach to data.”
For more information on Health Records, visit: https://www.apple.com/uk/healthcare/health-records/
For more information how Apple protects user privacy when they use Health Records: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT209519
