December 3, 2012

Today providers have many patients and patients have many providers

And almost all information is exchanged with paper

Photo by Jason Winshell/SF Public Press

Which is dangerous and drives up costs

13K diagnoses4K medical procedures6K drugs

1.5M adverse reactions or Rx errors

200K deaths/year from errors

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Blue Button extends simple, efficient data format in a way that enables industry-wide data exchange.

In March OPM required all federal carriers to Blue Button-enable their PHRs

Enter VA Innovations

An open government initiative investing over $100 million in improved access, increased quality, enhanced Veteran satisfaction, and reduced costs

Prize challenge to drive up Blue Button adoption in private sector

Innovation projects to enhance Blue Button functionality

Presidential Innovation Fellows to automate Blue Button

Format: First across the goal line

Threshold: 25,000 providers deploy Blue Button-enabled PHR for patients

Prize purse: $50,000

Winners: McKesson’s RelayHealth with 200,000 providers offering Blue Button

Cost: ~0.3¢/patient

Selected Blue Button partners

Over 400 commitments on the ONC website

Industry Challenge: Enhance Blue Button Functionality

Blue Button Focus:Expand types of data and information that Blue Button handles

Develop applications that make use of the data

Provide tools that help patients personal health information

Extend the usefulness of the Blue Button concept

Nearly half of all submissions came in under this topic area

3 winners selected

Presidential Innovation Fellows

“Our purpose is to give patients better access to and use of their Personal Health Information based on Blue Button.”

Improved readability and organizationIncreased data portabilityEasier mobile developmentPatient-Mediated Information Exchange

In the near future, Blue Button will be the way that we view, download, and transmit health data

PHRs that are tagged, labeled, and coded will be more clinically useful

#ABBI for your• primary care physician• specialty care provider• in-home caregiver• pharmacist

To be successful, we have to:

Keep data current

We need Blue Button apps that make it easier for patients to engage in their health

Enrich the experience

We need Blue Button apps that always have latest update of patient records

Connect to health outcomesWe need Blue Button apps that show how connectivity improves patient outcomes

www.va.gov/VAi2

www.innovation.va.gov

Coming soon: The complete medical record

• VA Demographics• VA Problem List• VA Admissions and Discharges (including Discharge Summaries)• VA Notes (progress notes)• VA Laboratory Results• VA Vitals and Readings• VA Pathology and Radiology Reports• VA Electrocardiogram (EKG) Reports• Self Entered Food and Activity Journals• VA Continuity of Care Document (VA CCD)