AHIMA Plans To Promote Blue Button

This week, at its annual conference, AHIMA announced that it’s launching a drive to get its members and state organizations to push use of Blue Button technology.  The idea behind the push is to improve consumer access to personal health records, according to a report in iHealthBeat.

For those who aren’t familiar with it, the Blue Button dates to 2010, when the Department of Veterans Affairs launched the tool to help veterans access and share their personal health data in a standardized manner. Consumers who click on the Blue Button get human-readable personal health data in ASCII format.

Since its inception, both private organizations and federal agencies have implemented the Blue Button. According to ONCHIT, almost 500 healthcare organizations have joined the Blue Button Pledge Program, which encourages providers to make personal health records available to individuals and caregivers. Almost 80 million Americans can now access their health information through the program.

Now, AHIMA is encouraging wider expansion of Blue Button use. The association is urging members and state AHIMA chapters to inform employers, families, healthcare providers and other health professionals of the benefits of the Blue Button format, according to iHealthBeat.

This effort should be enhanced as providers move toward Blue Button+, the next generation of Blue Button efforts, which meets and builds on view, download and transmit requirements in Meaningful Use Stage 2.

Neither Blue Button nor Blue Button+ programs magically transform patient data into something everyone can see and use, but they’re steps in the right direction.

So, what’s the next step when Blue Button functionality becomes common?  Will it help patients manage their data, or is it unrealistic to expect them to download and transfer information? I think the jury’s still out on this one.

If nothing else, though, we can look too the Automated Blue Button Initiative, which will probably evolve away from ASCII into more universal standards like XML. I’m keeping my eye on #ABBI to see where that goes, for sure.

About the author

Anne Zieger

Anne Zieger is a healthcare journalist who has written about the industry for 30 years. Her work has appeared in all of the leading healthcare industry publications, and she's served as editor in chief of several healthcare B2B sites.

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