Two Leading Electronic Health Record Providers to Partner with Apple’s Healthcare Service

Cerner Corp and Athenahealth Inc have announced they are working with Apple Inc to develop applications that leverage Apple's mobile health service HealthKit. Cerner and Athenahealth are 2 of the largest electronic health (EHR) record providers in the United States.

Cerner and Athenahealth representatives said they are building integrations with HealthKit and working with Apple. Previously, Apple announced a partnership with rival EHR company Epic Systems.

The goal is to help doctors monitor patients with chronic conditions from home and to identify health risks. HealthKit gathers data from various applications and devices, including blood pressure cuffs, accelerometers, and glucose measurement systems, to make it easier for doctors to view all patient information in 1 place.

Across the United States, hospitals are rolling out pilots using HealthKit to improve preventative care and potentially cut costs. Cerner, Epic, and Athenahealth are central to these plans, as the patient-generated data is stored in the EHR.

Both Athenahealth and Cerner have developed mobile applications targeted to patients. HealthKit-compatible versions of these applications will be available on the App Store when Apple works out some of the issues they have come up against in this endeavor. The HealthKit applications are expected to be available by the end of the month.

Athenahealth vice president Abbe Don said the company will use HealthKit to help patients with chronic conditions like diabetes. Cerner senior director Brian Carter said care teams, including doctors and nurses, will be able to access data from HealthKit with patients' consent.

Click here for more on HealthKit.—Kerri Fitzgerald

Source: Thomson Reuters. 2014; Cerner and Athenahealth say integrating with Apple’s mobile health service.