CommonHealth, a Free Mobile App for Patients to Share Health Data - including COVID Test and Vaccine Status - Connects to 230 US Health Systems

● CommonHealth, a free service run by a nonprofit, has connected to 230 health systems in the United States, allowing patients to gather, manage and share their health and test data, including COVID test and vaccination status

● By the end of this month, CommonHealth will connect to more than 340 health systems

● CommonHealth extends the health data portability and interoperability model pioneered by Apple Health to the 55 percent of Americans with Android devices (85 percent globally)

● CommonHealth enables broader and more equitable participation in remote consultations with doctors, telemedicine, innovative care models, next-generation health services and research

NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The Commons Project, a nonprofit public trust established to build digital platforms and services for public good, today announced that the CommonHealth app has now connected to 230 health systems in the United States, allowing patients using those health systems to gather, manage and share personal health information – including COVID test and vaccine status – on Android devices for free.

“The COVID pandemic has accelerated the need for the safe sharing of health data as medical consultations go online and individuals are required to demonstrate COVID test and vaccination status in order to travel, work, study and undertake other social activities,” said JP Pollak, co-founder and chief architect at The Commons Project. “CommonHealth extends the privacy-centered data portability and interoperability model pioneered by Apple Health to the 55 percent of Americans who have Android devices.”

Developed by a team of clinicians, public health experts, technologists, scientists and privacy advocates, CommonHealth is the first and only platform designed to allow users of the Android operating system to collect and manage their health data on their mobile devices in a similar way that Apple Health Record operates on iOS.

Already integrated with LabCorp, which operates one of the largest clinical laboratory networks in the world, CommonHealth allows individuals to store their COVID test results and vaccination status, in addition to any health record. CommonHealth plans to integrate with an additional 110 health systems in December, connecting to more than 340 health systems before the year ends.

Earlier this year, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) rolled out new patient health record sharing rules that will require hospitals and physician offices to send standardized medical information, such as lab test results, vaccination records and imaging tests, directly to third-party apps, like CommonHealth, by July 2021.

Developed in collaboration with UCSF, Cornell Tech and Sage Bionetworks with broad participation from all corners of the healthcare ecosystem, CommonHealth is operated by The Commons Project. CommonHealth was first deployed at UCSF Health and underwent substantial testing and user experience research in multiple diverse populations in San Francisco.

“CommonHealth offers the ability to advance and improve care while giving patients the tools they need to be an active participant in their own care,” said Ida Sim, MD, Ph.D., Professor of Medicine and co-director of Informatics and Research Innovation at UCSF’s Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute. “CommonHealth brings long-overdue innovation to electronic health record systems and nearly half the population that uses an Android device. It’s been excellent to collaborate with The Commons Project to develop CommonHealth, and we’re even more excited to be piloting it with the UCSF Health community.”

CommonHealth aligns with the strategic mission and vision of The Commons Project to improve people’s lives by giving them greater control over their health data. That means, in part, ensuring that the 2.5 billion Android users globally can securely access, store and share their medical data, once the patient has provided authorization directly from their smartphone devices.

“The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the need for digital health services that expand access to health information to inform better care and support healthier communities,” added Pollak. “With UCSF’s partnership and expertise, we designed CommonHealth to bridge the gaps that existing digital solutions don’t address—specifically, allowing people to collect their fragmented health records in a central hub that prioritizes privacy, above all.”

Availability

CommonHealth is a shared public service that is always free for users and is available for download on Android devices via Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.thecommonsproject.android.phr

About UCSF Health

The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is exclusively focused on the health sciences and is dedicated to promoting health worldwide through advanced biomedical research, graduate-level education in the life sciences and health professions, and excellence in patient care. It includes UCSF Health, which comprises three top-ranked hospitals, as well as affiliations throughout the Bay Area. Learn more at https://www.ucsf.edu, or see our Fact Sheet.

About The Commons Project

The Commons Project is a non-profit public trust building global digital services and platforms for the common good. Founded with support from The Rockefeller Foundation and based in Switzerland, it was established to build and operate the shared platforms and services that neither governments nor tech companies are well-positioned to create. The Commons Project’s public trust governance structure is designed to ensure that people’s interests are served above all. Learn more at thecommonsproject.org.

Note to editors

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