FACT SHEET
Blue Button
Health Data at Your Fingertips
MAY 2013
Blue Button is an easy, secure way to download
your health data. Already, several federal
agencies and many private organizations are
using it. For consumers, gaining access to the
health information necessary for our health and
health care, and the tools to make that
information useful, are key benefits of health
information technology (health IT).
Blue Button is a monumental advancement in getting consumers the access they need and
deserve. How does it work, and what more needs to be done to enhance consumer access
and use of health information?
Potential Game Changer for Consumers
A Simple Concept with Transformational Potential
 The idea behind Blue Button is simple: a patient is provided with a highly visible
button to download his or her medical records in digital form from a secure website
offered by doctors, insurers, pharmacies or other health-related service.1
 Right now, all Medicare beneficiaries, service members, and Veterans can go online
and download their health data with the click of a Blue Button.
 When Stage 2 of the Electronic Health Record (EHR) “Meaningful Use” Incentive
Program goes live in 2013-2014, even more patients and families will have the
opportunity to view, download, or transmit (V/D/T) their health data as they see fit.2
 Electronic access anytime, anywhere to health information, such as diagnoses,
medication lists, lab test results, and immunization records, promotes use of health IT
in ways that really matter to consumers, patients, and families. Blue Button
facilitates:


Meaningful Partnerships: Consumers can be true partners in health and health
care only if they have access to comprehensive and accurate information they
need to be engaged in their care.
Consumer Empowerment: Consumers need a comprehensive and accurate view
of their health and health care, and should be able to use and transmit their
health information based on personal preferences.
1875 Connecticut Avenue, NW | Suite 650 | Washington, DC 20009
202.986.2600 | www.NationalPartnership.org

Health Information Exchange: Patients and families electronically accessing
their health information anytime, anywhere should encourage additional health
information exchange – both between patients and providers, and among the
individual providers helping the patient.
Next Steps: Blue Button 2.0 & Beyond
 While tools like the Blue Button are an important first step in giving consumers
access to their health information, the Consumer Partnership for eHealth
recommends additional efforts to maximize the potential of online access:







Promote Access: The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), as well
as health plans, employers, and health care providers, should widely promote
Blue Button and other opportunities for consumers to electronically access and
direct their personal health information. All providers and hospitals should
provide online access.
Support Consumer Demand: HHS should make public the database of doctors
and hospitals that have committed to meaningful use of certified EHR
technology, so that consumers can know and choose providers offering V/D/T
capability.
Usable Information: Promoting Blue Button alone is not enough; consumers also
need the tools and applications that upload, organize, and display health
information in ways that are understandable and useful to patients, families,
and providers.
Linguistically & Culturally Appropriate: Application developers and others
should ensure that access is linguistically and culturally appropriate, so that
consumers can V/D/T their health information using diverse and accessible
technology platforms, including mobile technologies, and in the patient’s
preferred language.
Comprehensive Access: Consumers should be able to access their entire medical
records, including providers’ visit notes. In a study of the Open Notes initiative,3
the vast majority of participants having access to their visit notes reported an
increased sense of control, greater understanding of their medical issues,
improved recall of their plans for care, and better preparation for future visits.
Patient-Generated Health Data (PGHD): EHRs should integrate PGHD in the
areas that are most valuable to patients and providers. For example, providing
patients with ability to offer amendments to their health record or reconcile
competing information online, as patients are often the first to identify errors in
their own records.
Promote Auto Blue Button: The automated Blue Button feature (which enables
patients to direct their health information to a location of their choosing, such as
from specialists to their primary care portals, or non-provider affiliated personal
health records) should be a part of all HHS policies and models that advance
V/D/T capability, and should be rapidly adopted by private sector organizations.
NATIONAL PARTNERSHIP FOR WOMEN & FAMILIES | CONSUMER PARTNERSHIP FOR eHEALTH
The work of the Consumer Partnership for eHealth is generously supported by The Markle Foundation.
2
1 http://bluebuttondata.org/about.php
2 Office of the National Coordinator. Stage 2 Reference Grid: Meaningful Use Stage 2 and Correlated 2014 Edition EHR Certification Criteria.
http://www.healthit.gov/sites/default/files/mus2_scc14_grid_2-1-13.pdf
3 Delbanco, T., Walker, J., Bell, S. K., Darer, J. D., Elmore, J. G., Farag, N., Feldman, H. J., Mejilla, R., Ngo, L., Ralston, J. D., Ross, S. E., Trivedi, N., Vodicka, E., Leveille, S. G., Inviting
Patients to Read Their Doctors' Notes: A Quasi-experimental Study and a Look Ahead. Annals of Internal Medicine. 2012 Oct; 157(7): 461-470.
© 2013 Consumer Partnership for eHealth and National Partnership for Women & Families. All rights reserved.
NATIONAL PARTNERSHIP FOR WOMEN & FAMILIES | CONSUMER PARTNERSHIP FOR eHEALTH
The work of the Consumer Partnership for eHealth is generously supported by The Markle Foundation.
3