CommonHealth Enables Android Users to Share EHR with Health Apps
The University of California San Francisco (UCSF) is piloting CommonHealth, a service that enables people to securely collect and share their electronic health record data using their smartphone.
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- The University of California San Francisco (UCSF) is piloting CommonHealth, an open-source, non-profit service designed to enable people to securely collect their electronic health record (EHR) data using their smartphone and share their data with health apps and approved partners.
CommonHealth will use data interoperability standards, including HL7 FHIR, to offer functionality like Apple Health to users of Android phones.
HL7 FHIR is a next-generation standards framework for healthcare interoperability. FHIR solutions are built from a set of modular components called resources, which can be assembled into working systems that solve clinical and administrative problems.
FHIR is suitable for use in a variety of contexts, including mobile phone apps, cloud communications, EHR-based data sharing, and server communication in large institutional healthcare providers.
Commenting on the service, Russ Cucina, chief health information officer for UCSF Health, said: "UCSF is committed to using technology to improve care for all of our patients. The CommonHealth project will ensure that more of our patients have access to their health information, and that they can share it responsibly with the growing health technology sector."
Joining UCSF on the CommonHealth project are Cornell Tech, Sage Bionetworks, Open mHealth, and The Commons Project.
"Apple has shown real leadership and moved the industry forward by enabling patient access to their health information. Now CommonHealth is significantly expanding the number of people who can benefit from easy electronic access to their health records," said JP Pollak, the CommonHealth product lead, Senior Researcher in Residence at Cornell Tech and Assistant Professor at Weill Cornell Medicine.
The EHR data aggregated through the CommonHealth app can also be employed to boost digital therapeutics and diagnostics, biomedical research, and patient care.
The CommonHealth app uses a robust governance model to ensure patient privacy and promote trust that will review and approve all CommonHealth-related apps and partners.
"The upcoming launch of CommonHealth will unlock a wealth of opportunities for the developer and research communities, helping them to conduct more inclusive studies and deliver personal health management tools," said Deborah Estrin, associate dean for impact at Cornell Tech and co-founder of Open mHealth.
In addition to UCSF, CommonHealth is being piloted at several other academic medical centers and health systems.
