Although Apple's initiative to bring patient health records into the iPhone was "one that focuses on patient autonomy," one user — journalist Nicole Wetsman — notes that concerns about data privacy still stand in the way of its success, according to an article in Popular Science.
Through Apple's health records feature, patients can access their medical records using the iPhone's Health app. This provides patients with a central place to view data from each healthcare organization they visit.
"That ends up being important, if you're on vacation, and sustain some type of injury. You could show up at a hospital that knows nothing about you, and have trouble accessing your records," Christian Dameff, MD, an emergency physician and informatics fellow at UC San Diego Health, told Popular Science.
Apple isn't the first tech giant to descend upon the personal health records space. Microsoft and Google took a stab at building web applications for personal records in 2007-08, but both failed. Dr. Dameff said smartphones play a crucial role in Apple's success, but adds that this has left room for several problems.
One of those issues: Patients can link up their health records data with third-party apps. While this may prove useful in some cases, it also makes data privacy a concern — particularly when it comes to advertising.
"It would be creepy if your medical record said you have diabetes, and then you got marketing for diabetes products," Wanda Pratt, a professor in the division of biomedical and health informatics at the University of Washington School of Medicine, told Popular Science. "It can get into a bad space for health, especially because your phone is visible to other people … If you're a teenage kid, and all of a sudden you get advertisements for STD treatments, and your parents are around — that's not okay."
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