Patients in the UK can now access health information directly from their hospitals and GP surgeries in a single app on their iPhone, as Apple’s Health Records launches in the UK.
The feature, which has been available in the US since 2018, allows users to access their electronic health data including their past immunisations, allergies, conditions and prescribed medications from their smartphone.
Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which consists of four hospitals in Oxford and Banbury, and Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, are the first UK institutions to sign up to the feature, sharing information that would usually be kept on a hospital or surgery’s web portal.
Many GP surgeries offer online services giving patients the opportunity to book appointments, order repeat prescriptions and parts of patient health records, such as test results, medicines prescribed and communications between the surgery and hospitals.
Other foundation trusts are expected to enable the sharing of their records with Apple in the following months.
Encrypted privacy
Heath Records are contained within the iPhone’s Health app and are protected using a direct encrypted connection to the hospital and further encrypted and stored on the device via its passcode, face or fingerprint biometric verification methods.
Patients at the two trusts can access their records by opening the Health app, opening their profile, selecting their trusts and signing into their patient portal using the username and password they use to access their online records.
If a trust experiences a data breach or cyber attack, the patient’s data will remain accessible on the iPhone.
Like Apple, fellow tech giants Amazon, Microsoft, Uber and Google have invested millions of dollars into global healthcare initiatives. However, debates have raged over the safeguarding of patient data and privacy after the Royal Free NHS Foundation Trust was found to have failed to protect patient privacy when it shared data with Google in 2017.
Cyber attacks on hospitals and health care providers have increased in recent years, exacerbated by the outdated computer systems many are still using, leaving them vulnerable to hacking.
A major ransomware attack hit 48 NHS trusts in England and Scotland in May 2017, which could have been prevented if “basic IT security” measures had been taken, an independent investigation found.
Putting the patient at the centre of their care
Apple is confident its FHIR (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources) standards-based integration with the Health app will keep patient data secure, alerting patients when their data has been updated.
David Walliker, chief digital and partnerships officer at Oxford University Hospitals said giving patients the opportunity to access their records on their iPhones put them “at the centre of their care”.
“As a Digital Health Exemplar organisation in the NHS, we are committed to the potential for technology to empower patients to take control of their healthcare,” he added.
Matthew Gould, chief executive of NHSX, the digital arm of the NHS, said giving patients access to their own records enabled them to take charge of their own healthcare, calling the new feature “a positive step”.
