How Apple Watch Helps California Doctors Keep Patients’ Medical Records

A new system that uses the Apple Watch will soon help California's doctors to keep their patients' records easily and without spending a lot of time, a report says.

Doctors normally spend a great deal of time writing or typing down notes after every patient visit. These notes contain details that are entered into a patient's Electronic Health Record (EHR) and are used as a reference for succeeding visits.

Altais, a company that helps medical healthcare professionals maximize the health and well-being of their patients, is developing a system that will help doctors drastically cut the time they need to write the aforementioned notes, Apple Insider reported. The system is developed in conjunction with Notable Health and Blue Shield of California.

The system requires each participating doctor to wear an Apple Watch during patient visits. Instead of writing down notes, doctors will only need to dictate necessary information to the Apple wearable which in turn will automatically add the relevant details to the patient's EHR. Dictation can be done during or after the patient visit.

The Apple Watch will use natural language processing to determine the key details in each recording. This way, only the most important details are entered into a patient's EHR. Practicing doctors are seen to benefit from the system.

"As a general internist taking primary care of an elderly population with multiple complex illnesses," Richard Thorp, MD, president and CEO of Paradise Medical Group, told Apple Insider. "I will now have a maximally efficient workflow, streamlined data entry, and patient input pre-built into each of my patient encounters, and that is extremely exciting."

Aside from helping doctors spend less time doing all the admin work, the system is also designed to help patients as well. Patients whose doctors are participating in Altais's new program will have a Blue Shield app available for them. This app will remind them of appointments with their doctors, check their insurance, and will also allow them to run self-assessment health surveys.

This is but one of the ways the Apple Watch can be used in healthcare applications. The Apple wearable was previously used in the largest arrhythmia study yet. Soon, the popular wearable, which wasn't health-focused at the start, might even be used to detect dementia.