User Guide — Patient Portal Blue Button Initiative
The Department of Defense, in collaboration with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), offers "Blue Button" technology, which allows veterans and Medicare recipients to download their personal health information from the MyHealtheVet (MHV) site or from their Medicare.gov account. In support of this initiative, athenahealth makes Blue Button technology available from the My Health / Medical History page of the athenaCommunicator Patient Portal.
Introduction
athenahealth does not provide support for using the MyHealtheVet (MHV) site or the Medicare.gov site. However, your patients can easily download their health information from these Web sites and upload it directly into athenaOne, making it available to providers in your medical practice.
The data types (entered by the patient) available for download from the Blue Button sites include:
- Demographic Information
- Emergency Contact Information
- Health Care Providers
- Medical Conditions
- Personal Medical History
- Medications, Herbals, and Supplements
- Lab and Test Results
athenaOne stores the Blue Button information that patients upload in the form of a clinical document in the patient chart. athenaOne treats this document the same way as other clinical documents in the patient chart.
To access Blue Button technology
Patients can access the Blue Button Initiative upload page from the My Health / Medical History page on the Patient Portal. The link is located at the bottom of the My Health / Medical History page.
When the patient clicks the upload your medical record link, the Blue Button Initiative window appears. This window provides links to download the patient's data from Blue Button websites, and provides the patient a location to upload the file.