As part of the BlueButton government program to help people access their personal health records, Humetrix is testing its mobile ios and Android iBlueButton apps with providers connected to the San Diego Regional Health Information Exchange.
Humetrix CEO Bettina Experton responded to emailed questions about the pilot with the National Association for Trusted Exchange includes University of California at San Diego Health System and San Diego Kaiser Medical Center, among other groups. The National Association for Trusted Exchange is a consortium of states to develop policies for interstate electronic transfer of secure health information.
Does this represent the biggest pilot for Humetrix [to date]?
This is a very meaningful pilot for Humetrix as its objective is to help set policies at the state and national level for health information exchange for bi-directional exchange of health information between providers and consumers, placing consumers center stage to help coordinate their care.
How many estimated participants will there be from a patient point of view?
The pilot is aimed as testing means of health record exchange between providers and patients using [personal health records], and specifically here a mobile PHR, iBlueButton. For this pilot we are testing the sending of patient health records ([Continuity of Care Documents] from My HealtheVet and C-CDAs available through the San Diego Regional Health Information Exchange (SDRHIE)) by VA providers and SDRHIE participating providers directly to their patients’ mobile devices, using their iBlueButton app. The means of health information exchange is Direct which is also the transport protocol of Bluebutton+ enabled solutions such as iBlueButton.
How do you define success from this pilot?
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Success for this pilot will be two-fold:
- On the technical side, the successful exchange of records from providers to their patients’ iBlueButton apps enabling them to securely and practically receive on their mobile devices their records so that they can review, annotate and share them at any point of care.
- On the policy side, help define the trust framework of Provider to PHR exchange so that NATE qualified PHRs, including mobile PHRs such as the iBlueButton app, will become widely used by both providers and patients as trusted and practical means of health information exchange, anywhere and anytime.
Are there other pilots that will be done in the run-up to January?
Humetrix will be only conducting this CalOHII pilot, given its significance not only in California, but in the 16 other states associated with NATE, and at the national policy level where the policies and standards around bidirectional health information exchange are being actively addressed. We are also actively supporting a growing number of iBlueButton app users nationwide, and are about to release next month an iBlueButton app upgrade with new functionalities and new design features in accordance with the new iOS7 platform.
What’s the user population of this app is at this point?
Today our iBlueButton consumer apps are mainly used by Medicare beneficiaries or their family caregivers, and by veterans who for many are also Medicare beneficiaries and use iBlueButton to access, consolidate and annotate their Medicare and VA Blue Button records right on their devices.
Where are you seeing the biggest growth coming from?
We expect a large influx of iBlueButton users as a result of two concurrent happenings:
- On the regulatory side: With new regulations now taking effect ranging from expanded HIPAA rules (giving consumers the right to have electronic access to their EHRs), to MU-2 requirements for providing patient with the means to “View, Download and Transmit” their online medical records, consumers have the explicit right and tools such as iBlueButton now in place to widely participate in health information exchange and benefit from having access to their health information from both Blue Button+ enabled data sources, whether payers or MU-2 certified EMRs.
- On the public communication front: The Office of the National Coordinator is about to launch (in January 2014) a public communication campaign about Blue Button with a new Blue Button website. [It] will list Blue Button-enabled tools, such as iBlueButton available to consumers to make use of their Blue Button and manage their health records, and PSAs to be broadcasted as well by consumer organizations. A coalition of private sector organizations is also now being formed to support a Blue Button communication campaign which, in coordination with the ONC, will start in early 2014.
