HIMSS webinar: Blue Button could change PHR landscape
Patients are demanding access to their health information now more than ever, but the healthcare industry has failed to produce products with a function that live up to consumers’ expectations–until now, according to the presenters of a Jan. 17 Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) webinar. They believe that the Blue Button, an online tool that allows patients to easily access and download their health information, is different.
Widespread use of personal health records (PHRs) has yet to materialize despite a high degree of consumer interest in the product, according to one of the webinar’s presenters, Kim M. Nazi, a PhD candidate working as a management analyst for the Veterans Health Administration, who added that consumers value transactional services to accomplish tasks and easy access to their personal health information.
To increase the PHR adoption rate, new PHRs must provide more consumer access to data than past ones, she suggested. But consumer empowerment is just half of the equation, according to Nazi; clinicians must endorse and engage with patient PHRs for them to achieve widespread utilization, and healthcare organizations need to integrate PHR use into the fabric of healthcare in meaningful ways.
“As we developed our patient portal and continued to expand its functionality, we thought about the spirit of meaningful use and used that as a guide to implement functionalities that help consumers use the technology in meaningful ways,” she said.
Nazi said the idea of creating a button within a web portal to download personal health information was conceived during a January 2010 consumer engagement workgroup hosted by Markle, a New York City-based nonprofit dedicated to building public-private collaboration through IT. Seven months later, on Aug. 29, 2010, the concept became reality when a multi-agency initiative including the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the Department of Defense launched the Blue Button tool to make personal health information available to veterans.
Since its launch, 376,751 unique registered users submitted download requests, 904,258 files have been downloaded and 415,927 Blue Button outputs have been viewed in the web portal.
Additionally, an American Customer Satisfaction Index survey of 16,016 users conducted between October 2010 and January 2011 revealed that 30 percent of users used it more than once, 56 percent believed that the VA medication history contained within was the most useful information, 9 percent have shared their PHRs with their VA provider and 5 percent have shared their PHRs with their non-VA provider. Survey results also showed that 61 percent of respondents would like access to additional data and 29 percent want more customizable features from the Blue Button.
Currently, the PHRs that veterans can access through Blue Button contain information sourced from their VA EHRs, such as wellness reminders, appointment reminders, medication history, allergies and laboratory results. Veterans also can self-enter information related to health insurance or healthcare obtained outside of the VA.
In response to consumer requests for more customizable features, Nazi noted that in January 2011 information contained within the PHR could be sorted according to date and data class before downloading or printing. “You can imagine a veteran preparing for a clinic visit and creating a customized download focused on his specific need,” she said.
Co-presenter James M. Speros, an assistant to the VA’s chief technology officer, added that improvements to Blue Button are being made within as well as outside of the VA, noting that health insurers such as Medicare, Aetna and United Health have made claims data available to customers and beneficiaries through Blue Button.
“As it builds momentum we’re seeing a fantastic number of new technical applications coming online,” Speros said. He referenced a mobile application (app) developed by Northrop Grumman, a security company headquartered in Falls Church, Va., and said that additional mobile apps are in development.
“These apps aren’t just carrying data: they’re consolidating, graphing and making sense of [data],” he continued. “And they’re helping people make decisions about their diets, exercises, medications and how they can choose to be healthier and take action so that they can be healthier."
Co-presenter Joshua J. Seidman, PhD, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT’s director of meaningful use, seemed to agree. He said that a standardized tool that can be used by both patients and providers could help to achieve the kind of coordinated, patient-centered care that many federal initiatives currently encourage.
For patients with little interest in the technical applications of Blue Button, Speros suggested that they could print out a copy of their health records to lug around with them.
“Paper might be low-tech, but hey, it works,” he said.
Widespread use of personal health records (PHRs) has yet to materialize despite a high degree of consumer interest in the product, according to one of the webinar’s presenters, Kim M. Nazi, a PhD candidate working as a management analyst for the Veterans Health Administration, who added that consumers value transactional services to accomplish tasks and easy access to their personal health information.
To increase the PHR adoption rate, new PHRs must provide more consumer access to data than past ones, she suggested. But consumer empowerment is just half of the equation, according to Nazi; clinicians must endorse and engage with patient PHRs for them to achieve widespread utilization, and healthcare organizations need to integrate PHR use into the fabric of healthcare in meaningful ways.
“As we developed our patient portal and continued to expand its functionality, we thought about the spirit of meaningful use and used that as a guide to implement functionalities that help consumers use the technology in meaningful ways,” she said.
Nazi said the idea of creating a button within a web portal to download personal health information was conceived during a January 2010 consumer engagement workgroup hosted by Markle, a New York City-based nonprofit dedicated to building public-private collaboration through IT. Seven months later, on Aug. 29, 2010, the concept became reality when a multi-agency initiative including the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the Department of Defense launched the Blue Button tool to make personal health information available to veterans.
Since its launch, 376,751 unique registered users submitted download requests, 904,258 files have been downloaded and 415,927 Blue Button outputs have been viewed in the web portal.
Additionally, an American Customer Satisfaction Index survey of 16,016 users conducted between October 2010 and January 2011 revealed that 30 percent of users used it more than once, 56 percent believed that the VA medication history contained within was the most useful information, 9 percent have shared their PHRs with their VA provider and 5 percent have shared their PHRs with their non-VA provider. Survey results also showed that 61 percent of respondents would like access to additional data and 29 percent want more customizable features from the Blue Button.
Currently, the PHRs that veterans can access through Blue Button contain information sourced from their VA EHRs, such as wellness reminders, appointment reminders, medication history, allergies and laboratory results. Veterans also can self-enter information related to health insurance or healthcare obtained outside of the VA.
In response to consumer requests for more customizable features, Nazi noted that in January 2011 information contained within the PHR could be sorted according to date and data class before downloading or printing. “You can imagine a veteran preparing for a clinic visit and creating a customized download focused on his specific need,” she said.
Co-presenter James M. Speros, an assistant to the VA’s chief technology officer, added that improvements to Blue Button are being made within as well as outside of the VA, noting that health insurers such as Medicare, Aetna and United Health have made claims data available to customers and beneficiaries through Blue Button.
“As it builds momentum we’re seeing a fantastic number of new technical applications coming online,” Speros said. He referenced a mobile application (app) developed by Northrop Grumman, a security company headquartered in Falls Church, Va., and said that additional mobile apps are in development.
“These apps aren’t just carrying data: they’re consolidating, graphing and making sense of [data],” he continued. “And they’re helping people make decisions about their diets, exercises, medications and how they can choose to be healthier and take action so that they can be healthier."
Co-presenter Joshua J. Seidman, PhD, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT’s director of meaningful use, seemed to agree. He said that a standardized tool that can be used by both patients and providers could help to achieve the kind of coordinated, patient-centered care that many federal initiatives currently encourage.
For patients with little interest in the technical applications of Blue Button, Speros suggested that they could print out a copy of their health records to lug around with them.
“Paper might be low-tech, but hey, it works,” he said.
To listen to a recording of the webinar, go here, or view the accompanying slideshow here.