Answers to common questions about PHR Health Records.
All your health data is stored locally on your device in a private, sandboxed database. PHR never uploads your data to the cloud or any server. Your information stays on your iPad at all times.
Go to Settings → Backup in the app. You can choose a backup location such as an external drive or iCloud Drive. We recommend backing up regularly so your data is safe if you ever change devices.
Download PHR from the App Store on your new device. Go to Settings → Restore and point to your backup location. PHR will find your backed-up databases and let you restore them. Patient records will be automatically registered. Before committing, the Restore screen shows a compare table so you can see how the backup differs from what's currently on the device — rows where the current count is lower than the backup are flagged in red.
Yes. From Settings → Transfer Patient (Owner only), pick a patient and PHR creates a single .phrp file containing that patient's database and attachments. AirDrop, email, or any sharing method can move the file to the new iPad. Tapping the .phrp file on the destination opens PHR and offers to import it.
Yes. PHR supports up to 10 patients per device. Each person gets their own separate database, and the Owner of the device can use the patient switcher in the sidebar to move between family members.
Most patient portals (MyChart, Athenahealth, eClinicalWorks, and others) let you download a Continuity of Care Document (CCDA) — an XML file with your records. Open it in PHR via Settings → Import CCDA. PHR has separate importers for Lab Results, Medications, Conditions, Allergies, Immunizations, Procedures, Imaging Reports, Patient Info, and Contacts. You review what's coming in before any data is saved, and any import batch can be undone from the Import History.
Six modules support attachments: Reports, Procedures, Legal Documents, Treatments, Insurance, and Visits. Each accepts the file types relevant to that module (PDFs, images, Word documents, etc.). Files up to 15 MB are copied into PHR's sandboxed storage; larger files are referenced in place using a security-scoped bookmark. All attachments are included in your local backups.
When you tap Interaction Check on the Medications screen, PHR sends the names of your active medications to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's openFDA database (api.fda.gov) to check for known interactions. Only medication names are sent — no personal information. PHR also uses the NIH Clinical Table Search Service (clinicaltables.nlm.nih.gov) for drug-name lookup when you're entering a new medication. You can save the interaction report as a landscape PDF and share it with your pharmacist.
It depends on which AI service you pick. Perplexity opens in Safari and doesn't require an account or subscription. Claude (Anthropic), ChatGPT (OpenAI), Gemini (Google), and xAI (Grok) each require a paid subscription with the vendor — you supply your own API key, and the vendor bills you directly. PHR doesn't charge for or resell AI service.
Ask AI sends your question — and any file you attach — to the AI service exactly as typed. Names, dates, or other identifying details are sent through unchanged, so review your question before sending. Health Check is the opposite: it builds a de-identified snapshot of your record (only age, sex, height, weight, and the categories you check) and sends that for analysis. No name, date of birth, address, phone, email, or record numbers leave the device during a Health Check.
Yes. PHR can export your data in two ways: as a multi-section PDF report (great for sharing with doctors) or as an Excel spreadsheet with one worksheet per data section. Go to Settings → Export or use the Print menu.
PHR is built for iPad and will be coming soon to the Apple App Store. The app is designed for the larger screen to provide the best experience working with detailed health records and reports.
PHR is a personal-use application. It is not a Covered Entity under HIPAA and is not intended for use by healthcare providers or insurers. Because your data never leaves your device, there is no server-side data to protect — you have full control.