The Markle Foundation released a new video showing the power of blue button technology. Through the stories of three veterans, it illustrates how this simple tool can help people track their medical information and the value that the blue button offers to both patients and providers. The four and a half minute video debuted at a consumer health IT summit at HHS on September 11th.
The Markle Connecting for Health public-private collaborative conceived the idea for the blue button download capability at a January 2010 meeting. The idea was developed as an innovative tool by the Department of Veterans Affairs and CMS. Today, over one million people, including veterans and non-veterans use a blue button to download their personal health information.
“Information access is a critical building block to helping patients make better decisions, improve their health, and get better care,” says Laura Bailyn Senior Director at Markle. The Markle Connecting for Health collaborative envisioned the blue button as a broadly available tool for patients and beneficiaries on the secure websites of medical practices, hospitals, insurers, pharmacies, laboratories, and information services. To make the blue button technology reliable and trustworthy, the group also developed a recommended set of privacy and security practices for its implementation.
For more information go to www.markle.org or go to www.bluebuttondata.org.
