Sources: Apple | 9to5Mac | Blogs
We are witnessing something very unusual. Something that has never happened before. Every few weeks a new business model emerges questioning the years long status quo. And this business model is not just driven by few folks from the board room but by some tech geeks, industry experts, innovators who come together to create a next platform that runs entirely on a mobile app or a web app. Uber, Airbnb, Slack, Snapchat, to name a few. Big enterprises that have remained in the wall are facing the heat as the ground beneath them is being shaken. Many others are rapidly transforming themselves to adapt modern rules of business. Today top 5 companies with highest market capitalization are tech – Apple, Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Amazon. Technology is quickly penetrating into business processes, customer engagement, and to the core of business operations. No industry is left untouched by tech giants. However, there is one with the most challenges and opportunities – Healthcare. Highly regulated, fragmented, process driven, culturally backwards, it has remained the toughest battleground. Also, mentioned in my earlier article, there is only one player that knows how to win – Apple.
Apple and Healthcare - Perfect match
While we all were busy enjoying the cool announcements on iOS 10 features, iPhone 7 and the new Apple Watch (and some coping with headphone jack shock :P), Apple was quietly baking its Health app or to be precise HealthKit framework/APIs with some very interesting features and use cases.
Before we move into details, a quick overview of Apple’s love for healthcare. Launched with iOS 8, Health app on iPhone is a cool way to communicate, store and share user’s personal health information in a secure/encrypted manner. Most of the fitness app you see on App Store use Health app that runs on HealthKit framework. This framework allows you to store and share fitness information like step count, heart rate, calories, nutrition information, sleep analysis, etc. Data captured from both iPhone and Watch is integrated and readily available. Various apps can read and write their data.
Health compliance standard for mobile apps
iOS 10 takes Health a step further by allowing users to store their health records directly in the app using the Health Level 7 Continuity of Care Document (HL7 CCD) standard. Users will no longer have to track paperwork or CDs, health records can be directly tracked from various provider/insurer apps with ability to also import from Mail and Safari browser.
You may have received a document or two after a doctor’s appointment and not know quite what to do with it. Keep it for how long? Or digitize it? The doctor is already inputting it electronically, why couldn’t they send or give it to you an electronic copy? This is where Continuity of Care Document comes into play. By following a format to log information and then making it sharable (within compliance), healthcare providers and insurers can track years of health data. Apple’s iOS 10 allows users to import these documents into their device, store them encrypted for years to come.
Exciting so far? Let’s make it fun and cool :D :D
Demo: Saving and Reading HL7 health record on iPhone
To understand iOS 10 HL7 CCD support and possible business use-cases for Molina, I myself tested this out with some samples and a demo app.
Scenario 1: Import my health records from a file received via Mail or Safari browser
I got a sample CCD file and modified a bit with some information I wanted to display. I then imported the file on iPhone 7 test device using Safari, which then gave me option to add it to the Health app. It prompted me with a quick overview of document’s data – facility name, patient name, author name, custodian name. After tapping the preview, I got a thumbnail to view my health record document (which is in xml format). Tapping the thumbnail opens up the formatted preview of the document. I had all my health record there!!
Scenario 2: A demo app that can securely download, save and display health records
I created a quick proof of concept with few lines of code and a simple UI to save and display HL7 data. For the first time, the app prompts the user to authorize the app to read and write data into Health store. Once access is granted, the app can fetch HL7 CCD xml file and securely save. The app can also displays overview or details of the health document (image below doesn't represent the actual demo app).
There are many uses-cases and scenarios to explore and experiment with that could improvise the health information sharing and optimize process workflows between a user (patient), provider and insurer.
What’s next?
This is just the beginning.. Though this was not officially announced on the stage event, a small section of community involved with mobile healthcare technology (which now includes me) has applauded Apple for its initiative. Until now there is no standard recommended approach on iOS and Android for health and fitness apps to exchange data within the ecosystem. So this is first big step for the mobile community. We can expect providers and insurers to leverage this feature in future app releases.
There is also possibility Apple adopting new HL7 standard FHIR (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources), pronounced as ‘Fire’ that’s much more robust and modern with mobile/cloud applications, wireless devices and workflows. Let’s leave that to Apple, as it best knows how and when to do!
If Apple can dare to remove headphone jack, it can fix the healthcare industry too!