Four area hospitals link up to ‘my health care’ app

The symbol of a hospital in the letter 'H' is shown in this undated file image.

Having your own medical information available on your phone could make life easier.

Barrie’s Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre, Collingwood General and Marine Hospital, Midland’s Georgian Bay General Hospital and Orangeville’s Headwaters Health Care Centre have joined forces to simplify healthcare for their collective or singular patients.

As of July 30, health records will be available on iPhones and iPads as part of the Health app, which also shows activity, heart rate, nutrition and other health data consolidated from iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and HealthKit-enabled third-party apps.

This brings together hospitals, clinics and the existing Apple Health app to make it easy for patients to see their available medical data from multiple providers whenever they choose.

“We’re continually enhancing our digital tools to make it easier for patients to access and understand their health information,” said Dave Brewin, regional chief information officer for the four partner sites.

“Health Records offers a convenient and secure way for patients to stay connected to their care. It’s another important step in supporting patients to be more engaged, informed and empowered.”

The four hospitals, which share the my health care patient portal, have integrated with Apple Health Records to provide patients with simple, on-demand access to their health data — all in one place.

Health data from all four hospitals — and other providers using Apple Health — is available in one convenient, consolidated view.

Health Records creates a direct connection between medical institutions and a patient’s iPhone or iPad, allowing them to see a central view of their allergies, clinical notes, conditions, immunizations, lab results, medications, procedures and vitals. It also notifies patients when their data is updated.

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Health Records is designed to protect patients’ privacy through a direct, encrypted connection between the user’s iPhone or iPad and the medical institution.

Downloaded health records’ data is stored on your device and encrypted with the user’s iPhone or iPad passcode, Touch ID or Face ID.

Patients can now access Health Records from within the Health app and can download their health records by selecting any of the four hospital names and authenticating with their patient portal username and password.