Starting with the Health app on iOS, Apple has expanded its footing in the digital health industry. Users can not only take an ECG, track sleep, save their medical information, and monitor menstruation cycles but also share that data with healthcare providers.
Pushing the envelope further, the tech giant has partnered with Epic Systems to offer a macOS-friendly health record-sharing system.
Epic System is one of the leading electronic health record (EHR) vendors in the United States with a database of medical records from over 250 healthcare organizations. According to Johns Hopkins, roughly half of the American population’s medical records are in some kind of Epic system.
Previously, Epic System and Apple have locked horns over health records and data sharing. Epic opposed the 2020 government’s new rules that eased health record sharing which Apple supported. Consequently, when the tech giant introduced a data-sharing feature to its own health records service in 2021, it was supported by 6 EHRs but not Epic.
Epic developing a macOS version of its software for Apple so physicians can access its database on Macs
According to Axios report, a source inside Epic has confirmed that now both parties have reconciled their differences and Epic will create a macOS-friendly version of its software. Although Apple had requested a native version of Epic software for macOS, the EHR vendor agreed to develop a version that will be easier to run on Apple devices.
“Epic does have development underway to make it easier for physicians to access Epic on Macs,” the person told Axios.
The new deal with Apple came at the hems of Epic System’s partnership with Google Cloud to offer health systems another cloud storage option. “Google Cloud officials say the platform will offer new tools to build more efficiencies and optimize care, as well as secure their data.”
Therefore, Epic’s partnership with Apple is viewed as an “olive branch” from the EHR vendor to the tech giant and a compromise for both companies.
