Why Apple Health Records in iPhones could be a big deal - and why it might not be

Nothing stirs up social media more than a move by a major tech player in the healthcare space. The responses range from, “Finally, our hope has arrived!” to “Zzzzzzz, we’ve seen this before.”
Both are well-reasoned responses, of course. Tech players do have a tendency to change the status quo; they also conduct a crazy number of pilots, which adds to their institutional experience but doesn’t change much in the end.
Apple is the latest tech player jumping into healthcare. They bring with them hopes of empowering the consumer, by providing them access to more of their health record. You can read about it from any of a number of sources, but let’s explore the fundamentals of this announcement.
Apple will use the FHIR specification to move data from the EHR to your phone. They will start with allergies, medications, conditions, immunizations, and lab results. This extension of iOS will support notifications from participating health systems when data is updated in their EHR. The data will be encrypted and utilize the normal Apple mechanisms for access.