The NHS plans to allow patients to access their medical records through smartphone health apps. The move comes amongst a raft of technological initiatives aimed to make accessing our health records easy and secure.
A growing number of smartphones and wearables come with health monitoring apps, and the NHS is planning to validate certain apps by providing the user's medical records.
Not all health apps will be supported, with the NHS carefully considering the safety of each app. But this authentication process will allow GPs and doctors to recommend apps to patients.
Patients will get access to their GP records via apps and "approved digital platforms" starting next spring, with full access to care records by 2017.
An app update a day...
This move will happen alongside a number of other technical innovations that are aimed at making the NHS a paperless organisation by 2018.
Other commitments include putting early years health records online for children which will list the immunisation details for each child.
At the moment, parents are given a red book that lists all of this information that can often get lost. By making it available online parents should be able to access the important information quickly and easily.
Along with giving patients access to care records by 2017,these records will be available electronically across the health system. Patients will need to give their consent before these records are made available.
Via BBC
