The Blue Button is a national movement that is inclined towards ensuring that consumers can access their health information in a way they can best utilize. The consumers enjoy the benefit of downloading a single electronic file that has all the available data containing their details ( Turvey et al . 2014). Through the Blue Button, the consumers have direct access to personal health information by utilizing a patient portal system. The formation of the Blue Button services owes to a collaborative effort of the Medicaid, Medicare, and the Department of Defense where the Veterans Association (VA) members could access their personal information in a personal health records portal. However, today, the Blue Button services have extended to other governmental sectors and private sectors.
With the rapid digitalization of America's health system, different stakeholders such as healthcare providers and insurance companies are advocating for increased use of electronic health information availed through the Blue Button (Blue Button Pledge). One of the most important benefits of this initiative is that the client's health information can be accessed on demand hence assisting in a life-saving situation. Electronic storage of health information through the Blue Button will also reduce medical errors and will improve health coordination because everyone engaging in the treatment process of a client will read from the same page. Through the Blue Button, patients can enjoy additional benefits such as the access to vital health information including treatment data, drug allergies, claims, and laboratory results.
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Patients will also have the opportunity of downloading the information and share with the people they trust. Blue Button further provides the clients with the chance of plugging their health data into their mobile applications so that they can better manage their health, modify their behavior, prevent diseases, and live healthy lifestyles. The doctors managing the patient will also benefit from these services as they can electronically access the information as opposed to relying on papers which are prone to destruction. Other vital information that a client can access from the Blue Button includes the demographic information, emergency contacts, clinical notes, prescription medications, and wellness reminders among others.
A key area of consideration by the Blue Button movement is to ensure privacy, security, and confidentiality of patient data. It is in the best interest of the patient, their families, health workers, and the government to ensure that patient information security is top security. Federal laws are cognizant of this requirement and always require that anybody handling patient information to have guidelines and security safeguards to protect the health information whether in electronic or paper form. Health workers on their part have an ethical responsibility always to ensure that patient information is kept a top secret unless otherwise directed by the client. The federal laws enforce the privacy and security policies through the use of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 abbreviated as HIPAA. This privacy rule has specific benefits including giving the client various rights regarding their health information and also sets limits on how the health information can be shared with other stakeholders. It further stipulates how an individual's health information can be secured using technical, administrative, and physical safeguards hence ensuring total security.
Whenever an individual using the Blue Button feels that their health information has been violated, the division of Office of Civil Rights which is under the department of health and Human services will educate the client on various matters including their privacy rights, rules, and further help them in filing a complaint. The client must understand that health care workers and other key stakeholders handling their health information must always protect it with features such as encryption and passwords among other technical safeguards. Such strategies are meant to ensure that only the authorized persons acquire the information. Despite the fact that the Blue Button protects the information of its clients, they should understand that all their private information should not be publicized. Clients must exercise a high level of responsibility by ensuring that they use strong security features in protecting their health information. They should further take not that posting information on a public site jeopardizes on its security and privacy.
Before accessing any online health information storage site such as the Blue Button, it is critical to understand that the HIPAA guarantee every client to get their health information and share it to a third party such as the doctor, family members, or a mobile application. The Blue Button enables the clients to connect their health information with services such as applications, computer-based programs, and research programs among others. Accessing the patient data first requires an individual to log into MyMedicare.gov and find the Blue Button which will direct them to their patient portal (Blue Button Movement).The client will then be asked to provide a surname and a password that will log them in to access the information. Some of the health information available will include but not limited to medications, recent doctor visits lab, immunization, and allergies among many others. The patient portal will give the user an opportunity to download information or share with third parties. The Blue Button can create a downloadable file, and as such, the client should proceed to choose the information they intend to download. After selection, they will press ‘'submit'' upon which the information will be retrievable from the computer in the form of either PDF or TXT file.
References
Blue Button Movement: https://www.healthit.gov/patients-families/join-blue-button-movement
Blue Button Pledge: https://www.healthit.gov/patients-families/pledge-about
Turvey, C., Klein, D., Fix, G., Hogan, T. P., Woods, S., Simon, S. R., & Wakefield, B. (2014). Blue Button use by patients to access and share health record information using the Department of Veterans Affairs' online patient portal. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association , 21 (4), 657-663.
