Apple is breaking down the barrier between patients and doctors starting with this news

Apple announced today that soon, Veterans will soon be able to see their own health records over an Apple iPhone. Aggregated health records from participating institutions, including the VA, will be found by in the Health Records on iPhone feature. The information available from the Health app will include allergies, conditions, immunizations, lab results, medications, procedures and vitals.

To protect unauthorized parties from getting their hands on these records, the data is encrypted and the phone is protected by a passcode, Touch ID or Face ID. The VA is the largest health-care organization in the country, covering 9 million veterans who are treated in 1,243 facilities. Once this new feature is up and running, Vets getting medical attention through the Veterans Health Administration will be able to see their records in one place from the different VHA organizations where they've received treatment.

The deal between Apple and the US Department of Veterans Affairs may not seem like a big deal to those who didn't serve the country. But health-care experts are saying that it is actually the first step in allowing consumers to have access to their medical records. This will allow patients to show their health-care history to a doctor so that they won't have to be subjected to duplicate tests.