Apple today released a new report on health information that describes the many ways Apple products help users, developers and health organizations improve personal health and promote research and care.
Apple outlined the many ways Apple products help users take control of their health and serve as smart guardians of their health and safety. Users, developers, healthcare providers and organizations around the world are using Apple devices, features and APIs to help people remove barriers to accessing their health information while maintaining strict privacy.
Apple’s work to promote health falls into two main categories, according to Apple, which are described in detail in two separate sections of the report. The first section describes Apple’s use of Apple Watch and iPhone’s personal health and fitness features to provide meaningful, science-based, in-depth analysis to help protect users’ health and safety. The second section describes Apple’s work to support the medical community in research and caregiving. Both sections include a series of examples of third-party developers, health organizations and organizations that are pioneering innovations using Apple technology. In addition, the report concludes with an “Expanded” and “Spotlight” section.
Since the introduction of the Health App and Apple Watch in 2014 and 2015, respectively, Apple has introduced a broad range of innovative health and fitness features designed to provide users with easy-to-understand, meaningful insights that empower them to live healthier lives. The report lists four pillars of Apple’s health and fitness features.
1) Providing users with a centralized and secure space in the Health App to store and view their health data.
2) Providing features that make Apple Watch a smart guardian of users’ health.
3) Provide features that help users promote daily health and fitness activities and improve their health.
4) Support for innovative third-party health and fitness apps through developer tools.
With the release of iOS 16 and watchOS 9 this fall, Apple Watch and iPhone will offer features across 17 areas of health and fitness, including atrial fibrillation history, medication use, and new features such as tracking sleep staging through Apple Watch. Over the years, customers have, for example, discovered a serious heart condition, obtained emergency help after a fall, or dramatically improved their health through daily activities.
Apple has also partnered with the medical community with the ResearchKit framework to help researchers recruit subjects from large groups of iPhone and Apple Watch users, while helping subjects choose to share their own health data and participate in advancing science. Three first-of-its-kind scientific studies are supported: the Apple Women’s Health Study, the Apple Heart and Exercise Study, and the Apple Hearing Study.
The Health Record in the iPhone Health App and third-party apps and devices developed with Apple developer tools provide meaningful data for both patients and doctors, helping to strengthen the patient-physician relationship. Health Records now provides information for patients at more than 800 facilities in more than 12,000 locations and helps patients easily view medical data from multiple facilities in the Health app at any time.
All Apple health and fitness features are developed with two overarching principles in mind.
A rigorous scientific validation process: Apple’s in-house clinicians are deeply involved in the product development process and work closely with engineers and product designers. Apple also collaborates with experts at leading research institutions to ensure that products and features are science-based and easy to use.
Privacy at the core: Privacy is a core value of Apple, and data privacy is a top priority for sensitive health information. All health data synced to iCloud is also encrypted in transit to and from Apple servers. If users are using recent releases of watchOS and iOS, which use dual authentication and password encryption by default, their health and activity data is stored in a way that Apple cannot read. The Health App will never share data with any third party unless explicitly approved by the user. If a user decides to share health data, the Health App provides detailed control options to help users decide what types of data to share with whom. Users can view and manage permissions at any time.
