Apple and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced Wednesday that U.S. veterans now have access to the VA’s Health Records feature in the Health app on the iPhone.
The VA rolled out the Health Records feature gradually to patients this summer. The service provides VA patients with access to electronic medical records including medications, immunizations, lab results, and other content.
With more than 9 million veterans under its care in more than 1,200 facilities across the United States, the VA is the largest single medical system in the U.S. The VA is the latest of more than 400 major health organizations to support the iPhone’s Health apps, including the University of California San Diego, Quest Diagnostics, Johns Hopkins, and Allscripts.
It’s been a good year of growth for Apple’s Health app and services: only one year ago Apple counted 80 major health care organizations as participating. But that growth hasn’t been without its challenges. Over the summer, the Apple Health team was hit with high profile departures over the direction of Apple’s health push.
The announcement means that VA patients can now view and access those records directly within the Health app, encrypted and protected on the iPhone using passcode, Touch ID, or Face ID.
Are you a VA patient? Do you use the Health app? How significant is it to you to have important info on medications, lab results and more all in one place on your iPhone? Let us know in the comments.