Apple’s Health app: 9 tips for storing and tracking medical data on your iPhone

Apple’s Health app(Opens in a new window) provides a wealth of information about your health and medical history, your fitness and physical activity, and your vital statistics, all accessible from your iPhone. But there’s more to the app than meets the eye. You can add your medications and set alerts for when to take them, share your medical information with your doctor and loved ones, sign up for organ donation, and keep track of your overall health. Here are 10 ways to get the most out of the Apple Health app.

1. Create a medical ID

The Medical ID screen in the Health app contains information about your medical conditions, allergies, medications, blood type, and emergency contacts. In an emergency, these details can be accessed by other persons, such as family members and medical personnel, from your phone’s lock screen.

To set up your ID and add the necessary data, open the Health app and tap your profile icon in the top right. Select Medical IDthen tap on start the button.

You can then add date of birth, medical conditions, medical notes, allergies and reactions, medications, blood type, organ donor status, weight, height, primary language, and emergency contact. Make sure to turn on the switches for Shows when locked AND Share during the emergency call under the “Emergency Call” section to make your Medical ID accessible from the lock screen during an emergency.

To access your Medical ID yourself, simply open the Health app, tap your profile icon and select Medical ID. But what if you are disabled and unable to use your phone? Someone who needs to see that information, such as a family member or medical professional, can be accessed from the lock screen.

If your iPhone has a Home button, tap it to bring up the keyboard screen. For phones without a Home button, swipe up to reveal the same screen. touch emergenciesthen choose Medical ID to display all of your Medical ID information.

2. Register for organ donation

You can register as an organ donor directly from the Health app. Tap your profile icon to open your profile screen, then select Organ donation. touch Sign up with Donate Life the button. Confirm the existing information, then add the required details. touch Keepthen review the information on the next screen and tap Complete registration with Donate Life.

3. Activate a health checklist

When your iPhone and Apple Watch are paired, you can be notified if a certain medical condition or disease is detected. From the Health app, open your profile screen and tap Health checklist. Apple Watch owners will see options for Fall Detection, Low Heart Rate Notifications, Irregular Pace Notifications, Walking Endurance Notifications, and Noise Notifications.

touch Enable next to each option in the Inactive section that you want to monitor. Additional settings can be set for each item, such as keeping Fall Detection active all the time or only during workouts. You can also set the threshold for low heart rate notifications. When enabled, each item will appear in the “Active” section.

4. Add your medical information

You can add and view your medical records from supported hospitals and healthcare facilities. For this to work, you will need an account with the medical provider, which you must have created from their online portal. From the Health app, open your profile screen and tap Health datathen choose start.

You are then asked to give permission for the app to access your location. Select Allow while using the app or Allow once to see a list of nearby hospitals and medical centers. Tap the name of the facility that holds your medical records, then select Connect and sign in with your account. Confirm that you want access and the Health app creates a connection.

Once you connect with your healthcare providers, you can view your past medical records from the Health app. touch Browse icon, then scroll down to the Health Records section. touch All data to see all your data from every provider you’ve added to the app.

You can also tap a specific category, such as Allergies or Lab Results, to see just those results. Tap a specific provider to view all data from that facility. You can also tap on a specific result to see more details and historical data.

5. Add a COVID-19 vaccine card to the Health app

Fewer countries require you to provide proof of vaccination against COVID-19 these days, but with the pending release of an Omicron-focused booster on the horizon, it may be helpful to have your vaccination records ready. On iPhone, the easiest way to add vaccination data(Opens in a new window) to the Health app is with a QR code.

Of course, it’s a bit difficult to scan a QR code that’s on your phone with your phone, but you can save an image of your QR code, long press on it, tap Open in Health and then select Add to Wallet and Health. Or, record an email with a QR code for yourself or upload it to a cloud storage service, open it on another device and scan the code with your iPhone. touch Add to Wallet and Health. Find it later via Browse > Health records > Immunizations > COVID-19 vaccine.

6. Add your medications

New with iOS 16 is an option that lets you add and manage your medications. You can even set timers to let you know when to get each one. To set this up, tap Browse icon at the bottom and select Drugs. touch Add a medication, then type the medicine name or scan the name and dose on a bottle with your phone’s camera. Choose the type of medication, dose and frequency. At the appropriate time, a notification will appear to remind you to take the medicine.

7. Track your health and fitness

If you have an Apple Watch, the Health app automatically syncs, stores and displays your activity. But even without an Apple Watch, the app records certain data, especially if you’re using iOS 16. To see this information in the Health app, tap Browse icon and select activity.

You’ll see statistics for your walking and running distances, the number of minutes you walked, the number of minutes you exercised, the number of flights climbed, and the number of steps walked. Tap a specific statistic to view its historical data.

8. View a summary of your health information

To see your latest health data, activity data, and other highlights, tap summary icon at the bottom of the screen. Swipe down the screen to see each type of data. touch Show all highlights to see other highlights. Tap a particular highlight to see its latest results.

9. Share your health information

You may share certain medical and health information with other people, including family members and your doctor. touch Sharing icon at the bottom of the Health app, then tap Share with someone. You can then select a family member and choose the specific data you want to share. Tap Share and the person will receive an invitation to view your data.

To share health information with your doctor or medical facility, tap Sharingthen choose Share with your doctor connection. touch Next to see a list of compatible providers. In order to share information this way, your doctor must support this feature, so check with them first before trying this. If you see your doctor, tap their name and link your account.