When iOS 10 is released, the Apple Health app will include a new feature, allowing iPhone users across the United States to become organ, eye, and/or tissue donors with just a few taps.
"On average, one person dies every hour in the United States waiting for an organ transplant because the demand for lifesaving transplants far exceeds the available supply of organs — and one donor can save as many as eight lives,” David Fleming, President and CEO of Donate Life America, a nonprofit that worked with Apple to create the feature, said in a statement. “By working with Apple to bring the National Donate Life Registry to the Health app on iPhone, we’re making it easier for people to find out about organ, eye and tissue donation and quickly register. This is a huge step forward that will ultimately help save lives.”
At Apple's World Wide Developer Conference last month, Apple VP of Technology Kevin Lynch announced that in iOS 10, Apple's Health app would contain a Medical ID screen, which will be accessible directly from the lock screen on either the phone or Apple Watch screen and would contain information like age, allergies, blood type, emergency contacts, or important medical conditions, depending on what the user chooses to display. The organ donor registration feature will also be part of Medical ID -- users will have the opportunity to sign up when they set up their medical ID, and if they elect to become a donor, an icon will show that in the app as well.
“Apple’s mission has always been to create products that transform people’s lives. With the updated Health app, we’re providing education and awareness about organ donation and making it easier than ever to register. It’s a simple process that takes just a few seconds and could help save up to eight lives,” Jeff Williams, Apple’s chief operating officer, said in a statement. “Together with Donate Life America, we’re excited to deliver this new feature to iPhone users in the US with iOS 10.”
At WWDC, Apple announced a number of new health and fitness features for the iPhone and the Apple Watch including a guided meditation app called Breathe, a remote response feature for the Apple Watch called SOS, and updates to the Activity app that include social sharing and a tailored version of the app for wheelchair users.
MobiHealthNews also learned at our own event, right down the street from WWDC, that Apple will add support for the Health Level 7 Continuity of Care Document to iOS 10. According to Dr. Ricky Bloomfield, who brought the news from WWDC, a doctor will be able to create a CCD, let their patients have access to it, and patients, in turn, can share that document with other caregivers and clinicians.
