ONC and Blue Button Challenge winners talk health apps

Laura Pedulli | May 20, 2013 | Health Exec | Precision Medicine

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) is betting that well-designed mobile apps that present digestible and actionable data can inspire consumers to take charge of their health.

Such tools allow consumers to review their health record and prompt a deeper dialogue with providers, Lygeia Ricciardi, director, office of consumer eHealth, ONC said during a National eHealth Collaborative webinar on May 16. Also, when done right, they motivate consumers to engage in healthier eating and exercise habits and assist with medication regimens as well, she said.

Ricciardi said Blue Button, which allows consumers to download their health data, is formed around “the three As framework”: access, action and attitudes. The goals are increasing consumer access to their health data, enabling consumers to take action with that information and shifting attitudes to support a patient-provider partnership. “Once you use Blue Button, it’s a gateway to do what you want to do,” she said.

The webinar featured the three winners of last year’s Blue Button Mash Up Challenge, in which developers took Blue Button patient data and mashed it up with information from two or more sources. The goal of the challenge was making personal health information more usable and meaningful for the individual consumer or patient. ONC awarded $75,000 to developers of the three best apps.

Rebecca Mitchell, medical officer for innovation at ONC, also announced the next Blue Button Challenge will be launched at the Health Datapalooza IV on June 3 in Washington, DC. She said the ONC’s “Innovators guide to the Health IT Galaxy” document is in the works, and the agency is looking to create more opportunities to bring together ONC experts and entrepreneurs.

At the webinar, winning developers of last year’s Blue Button Challenge demonstrated their mobile apps:

iBlueButton by Humetrix – Bettina Experton, MD, president and CEO, Humetrix, said her product allows for a “consumer-mediated exchange” in which consumers share health data with their physician at the point of care or within a telemedicine scenario. She said they took the Medicare Blue Button record of coded claims and transformed it into one single page of data for physician and patient use. Some features include: ability to look up all providers visited (ie. outpatient encounters, Emergency Department visits, etc.) within the past three years; access to a consumer’s medication list with an ability to notify physicians if one is experiencing a side effect; and a secure system as it does not store or expose sensitive personal health information to centralized systems.
InstantPHR by Get Real Consulting – This app includes a collection of nearly 200 data visualization and care management tools for patients and providers designed to deliver comprehensive patient engagement solutions, according to Christina Caraballo, healthcare strategist, Get Real Health. Some of these tools include a daily health journal and reminder system for improved medication management. Caraballo said the app is designed to meet patient-centered objectives in Meaningful Use Stage 1 and 2.
iD BlueButton App by Intelligent Designs – The app includes a dashboard with basic health indicators and it also presents health data in a timeline format so patients can decipher trends in their health. The app is designed to empower patients and make them motivated to take charge of their health, said Greg Eoyang, senior architect, Intelligent Decisions. It allows access to lab results, immunization records and allergy information, and stores information on insurance and pharmacy cards. The app also alerts consumers if they are at risk of a health condition.

Video demonstrations of the winners’ apps are here.