Apple Health

Apple in talks w/ Department of Veterans Affairs to offer veterans medical records access on iPhone

Chance Miller | Nov 20 2018 - 3:33 pm PT

The Wall Street Journal reports today that Apple is in talks with the Department of Veterans Affairs to offer electronic health record access to military veterans. This comes as Apple continues its push into the health industry with platforms like HealthKit, ResearchKit, and Health Records.

According to today’s report, the partnership would see Apple create “special software tools” to allow the VA’s 9 million veterans enrolled in the current system to access their health records on iOS devices. A partnership between the Department of Veterans Affairs and Apple would attract new customers to Apple’s platform, as well as “simplify patents’ hospital visits,” as explained by The WSJ.

The report says:

Under the plans being discussed, Apple would create special software tools allowing the VA’s estimated 9 million veterans currently enrolled in the system to transfer their health records to iPhones and provide engineering support to the agency.

The report adds that top VA officials, as well as associates from President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club, discussed this Apple project in emails, which have since been obtained by The WSJ. An Apple spokesperson told The Wall Street Journal that the company “has nothing to announce.”

Apple first shipped the Health Records API to developers in June, and the platform has gradually been adopted by additional hospitals and providers since then. As today’s report indicates, however, a partnership with the VA would see Apple create additional software mechanisms and features.