Apple, VA to let veterans access their health records on iPhone

(AP Photo/Patrick Sison)

US military veterans will soon be able to access their health records on their iPhones, Apple announced Monday.

The Cupertino tech giant said it's working with the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to make this feature available to veterans. When it launches, those receiving care through the Veterans Health Administration will be able to view their aggregated health records in the Health app on their Apple smartphone.

"When patients have better access to their health information, they have more productive conversations with their physicians," Apple COO Jeff Williams said in a statement. "By bringing Health Records on iPhone to VA patients, we hope veterans will experience improved healthcare that will enhance their lives."

Medical information from the VA and other participating organizations will be organized together, by date. That includes information about allergies, conditions, immunizations, lab results, medications, procedures, and vitals.

"This means VA patients will get a single, integrated snapshot of their health profile whenever they want quickly and privately," Apple wrote in a news release. The data will be encrypted and further protected with your iPhone passcode, Touch ID, or Face ID.

Apple first introduced this feature in March 2018 with support for more than 40 health systems, including Duke, NYU Langone, Stanford, and Yale. The company says this is "the first record-sharing platform of its kind available to the VA."

The largest medical system in the US, the VA currently serves more than 9 million veterans.

"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."

This article originally appeared on PCMag.com.