The Mayo Clinic announced today that it now supports Apple’s Health Records feature. This means that Mayo Clinic patients with a Patient Online Services account can now use Health Records to access health data directly from their iPhone.
Using Health Records within the Apple Health app on iPhone allows users to gather their health data from different providers and institutions into a single location. It also allows users to see their health records alongside data collected by other third-party apps and from the Apple Watch.
The Mayo Clinic made the announcement in a press release.
The Mayo Clinic also stresses that privacy is at the forefront of the Health Records implementation. “Use of Health Records in iPhone’s Health app is optional and will not change or affect the user’s Patient Online Services account,” the company says.
“There are more ways than ever for patients to be actively engaged in their health care, and smartphone apps can be helpful for accessing records and tracking daily fitness and diet,” says Steve Ommen, M.D., medical director of Experience Products for Mayo Clinic’s Center for Digital Health. “We want patients who are interested in these apps to be able to use them securely and enhance their health care at Mayo Clinic.”
With the expansion of Health Records to the Mayo Clinic today, there are more than 700 institutions and 12,000 care locations that support Health Records.
Health Records protects patients’ privacy by using an encrypted connection between the user’s iPhone and health care organizations. Downloaded health records are stored on the user’s device and encrypted with the user’s passcode. Users access their Mayo Clinic health records by authenticating with their Patient Online Services username and password. Health Records is available on iPhones but not iPads.
