Apple teaming with startup Health Gorilla for iPhone medical record plans

Apple's efforts to centralize medical records on the iPhone are being done with the help of a small startup called Health Gorilla, and will focus on making it easier to share those records with different healthcare providers, a report said on Monday.

In particular Health Gorilla is collaborating with Apple to add diagnostic data such as blood work, according to CNBC sources. The firm is said to be integrating with hospitals, labs, and imaging centers.

In the finished product, iPhone owners should be able to save and browse their own medical info, such as allergies and lab results. As needed they'll be able to share the data with providers, who might otherwise have to scramble to get it from various labs and doctors.

Last week a report indicated that Apple was "quietly" building a team and consulting with various parties to develop a records tool for patients. The technology will presumably expand on the company's CareKit and HealthKit platforms.

Health Gorilla is an unusually small partner for Apple, with less than $5 million in funding. On its website however the company says that its technology offers a "complete picture of patient health history," with a "truly universal electronic medical record."

It's still unclear how and when Apple plans to launch its new tool, since it went unmentioned at WWDC 2017 earlier this month. The company could be planning to roll it out this fall in the final version of iOS 11, if not later.

8 Comments

crabby 37 comments · 8 Years

About 7 years ago

"truly universal electronic medical record."
A fool's errand. Very big IT/MedRec companies & V big health systems have been trying to do this for years. Between competing formats and the utterly maddening HIPPA Med Rec

Privacy craziness it seems impossible. And the utterly simplistic Med Rec they allude to will be just useless- unless something truly robust which including images is what they have in mind.

applesauce007 1702 comments · 17 Years

Apple Inc. *is* the biggest "startup" in the world, so it is not surprising that they would partner Health Gorilla.

If they have good technology and good management bet on Apple working with them. They have much less baggage in the way of getting things done.

slurpy 5388 comments · 15 Years

crabby said:

"truly universal electronic medical record."
A fool's errand. Very big IT/MedRec companies & V big health systems have been trying to do this for years. Between competing formats and the utterly maddening HIPPA Med Rec Privacy craziness it seems impossible. And the utterly simplistic Med Rec they allude to will be just useless- unless something truly robust which including images is what they have in mind.

Apple has succeeded with hundreds of things that others had tried and failed to do for years. It seems silly to call this a "fool's errand" and write it off. Yes, due to the nature of the industry there's a mountain of challenges, and we may never get to truly universal, but I'm so glad Apple is investing in this space and trying to move things forward.

sflocal 6133 comments · 16 Years

crabby said:

"truly universal electronic medical record."
A fool's errand. Very big IT/MedRec companies & V big health systems have been trying to do this for years. Between competing formats and the utterly maddening HIPPA Med Rec Privacy craziness it seems impossible. And the utterly simplistic Med Rec they allude to will be just useless- unless something truly robust which including images is what they have in mind.

Same thing can be said about Apple first entering the cell phone market in 2007.

If there is one shop that can disrupt an industry, it's Apple. Apple can own the entire widget and get things working while giving the middle-finger to those bureaucratic fools that always get in the way, and to other players that compete with their own bandaid attempts.

I trust Apple will do more in a few years, than the entire industry has in decades.

paxman 4729 comments · 17 Years

sflocal said:

crabby said:

"truly universal electronic medical record."
A fool's errand. Very big IT/MedRec companies & V big health systems have been trying to do this for years. Between competing formats and the utterly maddening HIPPA Med Rec Privacy craziness it seems impossible. And the utterly simplistic Med Rec they allude to will be just useless- unless something truly robust which including images is what they have in mind.

Same thing was said about Apple first entering the cell phone market in 2007.

Correction.