Apple Adds Interoperable Medicine Tracking Feature to iPhone Health

Apple has launched a new medication tracking feature to its iPhone health app. In the process, the company moved a step closer to creating its own interoperable electronic health record (EHR) ecosystem. Apple will likely only share said data with apps within the app store that have been thoroughly vetted for privacy issues. However, some point out that there may be setbacks and downsides with that approach.

According to PharmaPhorum, “Now that Apple is bringing this frequent, highly engaging medication-tracking feature into its own walled garden, third-party apps will have to fight even harder for patients’ attention. That special moment to engage the patient when it’s time to take one’s meds is now gone. Some would argue that Apple has failed in similar attempts to take over a target category with its own app (Spotify and Venmo are popular examples). However, unlike the cross-platform music app and peer-payment app (which Apple Music and Apple Pay, respectively, were not able to displace), managing one’s medications is a private, single-modality use case, where Apple’s campaign to promote privacy has a much bigger chance to resonate.”

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(Source: PharmaPhorum, September 23^rd, 2022)