Health Records Now Available To Patients At Four Local Hospitals In The Health App On iPhone And iPad

Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre (Barrie), Collingwood General and Marine Hospital, Georgian Bay General Hospital (Midland), and Headwaters Health Care Centre (Orangeville), today offers Health Records on iPhone and iPad, which brings together hospitals, clinics and the existing Apple Health app to make it easy for patients to see their available medical data from multiple providers whenever they choose. The Health Records feature is part of the Health app, which also shows activity, heart rate, nutrition and other health data consolidated from iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and HealthKit-enabled third-party apps.

The four hospitals, which share the my health care patient portal, have launched integration with Apple Health Records to provide patients with simple, on-demand access to their health data — all in one place, directly on their iPhone and iPad. Before, patients had to log into a separate portal to access records from partner hospitals. Now, with this new integration, health data from all four hospitals — and other providers using Apple Health — is available in one convenient, consolidated view. This makes it easier for patients to stay on top of their care and make informed decisions.

Health Records creates a direct connection between medical institutions and a patient’s iPhone or iPad, allowing them to see a central view of their allergies, clinical notes, conditions, immunizations, lab results, medications, procedures and vitals. It also notifies patients when their data is updated.

Health Records is designed to protect patients’ privacy through utilizing a direct, encrypted connection between the user’s iPhone or iPad and the medical institution. Downloaded health records data is stored on-device and encrypted with the user’s iPhone or iPad passcode, Touch ID or Face ID. 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.

Patients can access Health Records from within the Health app and can download their health records by selecting any of the four hospital names and authenticating with their patient portal username and password.

“We’re continually enhancing our digital tools to make it easier for patients to access and understand their health information,” says Dave Brewin, Regional Chief Information Officer for the four partner sites. “Health Records offers a convenient and secure way for patients to stay connected to their care. It’s another important step in supporting patients to be more engaged, informed and empowered.”

For more information on Health Records visit: https://support.apple.com/en-ca/105016

For more information how Apple protects user privacy when they use Health Records: https://support.apple.com/en-ca/111755