How to Suspend Access to Health Records or Health App Data Sharing

Details

This guide details the procedures for healthcare organizations to temporarily suspend access to either their Health Records FHIR API endpoint or Health app data sharing through Apple Business Register. To prepare for routine maintenance or unscheduled downtime affecting the FHIR API endpoint, one can select 'Take Offline' on the relevant endpoint. When offline, patients attempting new data downloads will receive a message that the health record server is unavailable. Furthermore, it is possible to suspend only Health app data sharing while allowing continued access to health record downloads. This granular control over service availability helps healthcare providers manage data provision during maintenance, enhancing reliability in digital health interoperability, which is crucial for Japanese healthcare IT systems. To reenable access, the organization must go to the FHIR API Profile screen, enable Edit Mode, and follow the review process (e.g., Send for Review followed by Publish Now). These steps are managed through Apple Business Register.