- A new report from Apple details how Apple technology supports personal health, medical research and care and empowers consumers to take charge of their own well-being.
- With iOS 16 and watchOS 9 coming this fall, Apple Watch and iPhone will offer an expanded set of features focused on 17 areas of health and fitness.
- The widely used Health app now allows users to store up to 150 types of data related to their health.
- As digital privacy remains a public concern, Apple certifies that the company remains committed to keeping user data encrypted and secure.
Apple today released a special health report detailing how its growing catalog of health and fitness features on the Apple Watch and iPhone is bridging the gap between consumers and their health information.
The Empowering People to Live a Healthier Day report is an 8-year snapshot of how the tech giant’s latest health innovations are supporting the health and well-being of its millions of users around the world.
In anticipation of the launch of iOS 16 and watchOS 9 this fall, Apple Watch and iPhone will offer 17 features that focus on health and fitness, including sleep, heart health, women’s health and mindfulness.
“Technology can play a role in improving health outcomes, but it needs to be done carefully,” Dr. Sumbul Desai, vice president of healthcare at Apple and clinical associate professor in the Stanford Department of Medicine, told Healthline. “We think there’s an opportunity to encourage people to live healthier lives.”
With iOS 16 and watchOS 9 upgrades coming in the fall, Apple’s expanded catalog of health and fitness features, including sleep tips, mindfulness practices, and heart and fitness monitoring, will become available in more than 200 countries.
“All of our health and fitness features, whether it’s the Health app or our newest features like sleep stages, medications and tools for AFib, are built on the belief that accessing someone’s health information with actionable insights will enable people to take an active role in their health,” Desai said, adding that Apple’s technology gives users the ability to get a longitudinal snapshot of their health.
Apple’s foray into health and wellness began in 2014 with the launch of the Health app, followed by the Apple Watch in 2015. In the years since, Apple has partnered with the medical community to provide science-based information for its growing list of health characteristics.
Apple’s new report states that offering consumers a more complete picture of their health helps them make choices to achieve their health goals. According to the report, some users claim that Apple’s health technology is life-changing and even life-saving.
Apple’s report states that users can now store over 150 types of health data in the Health app on their Apple Watch, iPhone, and connected apps and third-party devices (if they choose). Users can also store their health records from affiliated medical institutions in the United States, United Kingdom and Canada and choose whether to share their health data with loved ones.
This availability of information, according to the report, helps “remove the barriers” between the consumer and their health information. At a press briefing on Tuesday, Apple representatives said their health technology strengthens the patient-provider relationship.
But 150 (or more) types of health data is very sensitive data.
According to Apple, all user data, especially health data, is protected and secure and is never shared with any third party. When an iPhone is locked, for example, and can only be accessed by touch or Face ID, it means that all the user’s data is safe and encrypted.
“Privacy should be at the heart of everything we do,” Desai said. “Our commitment to privacy is something that comes from the belief that people should expect the same privacy for their technology as they do for their doctor.”
Still, there’s always the possibility of a security breach by hackers, according to Anthony Capone, president of DocGo, a leading expert at the intersection of healthcare and technology.
“The key is to make the cost of a data breach more expensive than the value of that data,” Capone told Healthline. “That’s the nature of software in general. It’s important to make your security measures expensive enough to overcome compared to the benefits of someone getting that data.
And when it comes to sharing your stored health data with your doctor, Capone said there may be an added benefit, but it’s still a good idea to be careful.
“When doctors have access to as much information as possible, they are better equipped to make decisions about your care,” he said. “However, it’s important to be informed and ask your provider about the type of software they have. If they use ISO 27001 or SOC 2, it will be harder to break through.”
According to Desai, the Health app’s Health Records tool allows people to have deeper conversations with their doctors, and doctors to have a clearer view of some of the patient’s lifestyle factors that play a role in their overall health.
The Health Records tool is available to patients at over 800 medical facilities in more than 12,000 locations. According to Apple, this makes it easier for users to view their medical data from multiple providers, all within the Health app.
Dr. Rigved V. Tadwalkar, a board-certified cardiologist at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, California, told Healthline that it can be helpful for both patients and doctors to have access to health information that can sometimes be difficult to obtain.
“Having that information easily accessible can be great during a visit when the doctor doesn’t have time,” Tadwalkar said. “Ethically, I think it’s the right thing to do. If people want access to their records, they should have it – it’s just a matter of how they are accessed.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that in 2018, 51.8% of US adults had at least one chronic disease and 27.2% had multiple chronic diseases. Capone noted that for those living with chronic illnesses, ongoing health monitoring is critical.
“One of the largest and fastest growing segments of healthcare technology today is remote patient monitoring (RPM), which uses technology to monitor patient medical data for provider evaluation,” Capone said. “A narrowly focused RPM device, the Apple Watch, can monitor certain vital signs, including heart rate.”
Doctors like Tadwalkar say they’ve benefited from patients monitoring, storing and sharing their health data with their doctor. He said some of the most common health data shared in his practice by his patients include heart rate and rhythm trends.
“The biggest benefit is obviously that there is more information because it gives us a glimpse of what the individual’s health is outside of the healthcare environment,” Tadwalkar said.
Still, not every doctor may always want or need to process so much of their patient’s health information. Here’s an overview of the pros and cons of keeping health data on your device.
It paints a more holistic picture of health
Monitoring your health and keeping track of it can help you and your doctor get a more complete picture of your overall health.
Tadwalkar explained that there is often a contrast between what doctors see in the office and what patients experience at home. For example, a person’s heart rate may be lower than that measured in the doctor’s office.
It helps you be more active with your health
Many people may feel they need to be more invested in their health to achieve optimal results, Tadwalkar explained. Health and fitness monitoring can be helpful for some people to take care of their health regularly outside of their biannual or annual doctor visits.
Potentially life-saving
Apple’s new report shows that its health monitoring features have been a lifesaver for some users.
For example, if a doctor has been trying to identify a rare arrhythmia but has been unable to locate it, the patient may be able to record it on their Apple Watch when it occurs outside the doctor’s office. “That’s actually huge because now you’ve added a diagnostic tool,” Tadwalkar said. “Then we can review it and decide if it’s something that needs to be studied with more clinical rigor.”
Or, if a person is at risk of falling and has a significant fall, they can trigger an emergency SOS notification on their Apple Watch to call for help. “I think that’s the real value of these technologies,” Tadwalkar said. “When prescribed to the right person, it can be extremely helpful.”
“Too much” data
“I think most doctors would agree that there is too much data to take in that can cloud the overall health of their patient,” Tadwalkar said. “And I think the biggest disconnect is that many patients have a hard time understanding that not every data point is necessarily actionable.”
Tadwalkar emphasized that an abundance of personal health data does not necessarily mean that it will provide conclusive evidence when it comes to how you should take care of your health. “It may actually have little to do with what we might be treating them for,” he said.
Potentially anxiety provoking
Having so much personal health data at hand can be unsettling, especially for those who may have mental health issues.
“If you have access to all your records from multiple sources, you can get bogged down in medical jargon and feel overwhelmed by the amount of information you’re looking at,” Tadwalkar said.
The new report also details how the health of Apple…
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