Apple urges organ donation via new iPhone software

Apple is urging Americans to become organ donors through its new iPhone software.

Allowing people to sign up as organ donors quickly and easily through iOS 10’s Health app could not only prompt more users to take the step, but could also help improve automation in the organ donor and matching space.

On Tuesday, the company announced that, when iOS 10 launches in the fall, iPhone and iPad users will be able to register themselves for organ donation directly through the updated Health app. This is where Donate Life America comes in, as the non-profit is responsible for maintaining the Registry and updating it as new donors sign up. Coupled with the updated version of the iOS is Apple’s Health app, which gives you the option to conveniently register as an organ donor at the click of a button. Reportedly, an average of 22 people die everyday without receiving a organ donation and more than 120,000 are waiting for a transplant that could save their lives. The app’s Medical ID feature, which already keeps track of your medical and health information, will include the ability to register as a donor of organs, eyes and tissues.

“Watching and seeing him every day, waiting and not knowing-it stuck with me and left an impression that I’ll never forget”, Cook said. It revealed over twenty organizations including Twitter and Google are developing tools to ease registering of organ donor. That’s no longer the case now that Donate Life has created a national registry.

Apple’s Health app serves as a dashboard where users can get a breakdown of their overall health by using data pulled in from other apps. Tapping another button brings up information on organ donation.

Apple’s chief executive Tim Cook offered part of his liver for a transplant to Steve Jobs before the company co-founder died, but the offer was rejected, according to a Jobs biographer.

The organ donation app is Apple’s latest move to broaden the reach of its healthcare apps, which represent a growing market for mobile providers.