Amida Releases New Blue Button Software Component

Supports National Initiative to Provide Easy Access to Consumer Health Records

WASHINGTON DC--(Marketwired - Jun 2, 2014) - Amida is pleased to announce the release of its first product, a Blue Button branded software component that supports the aims of the Blue Button Initiative, a nationwide public-private effort to enable patients and consumers to gain easy access to their own health information. Amida's Data Reconciliation Engine (DRE) is the first production-ready, format-agnostic open source health record interface in the health IT market.

Electronically accessing and exchanging personal health information can be improved through the use of patient-in-the-center exchange models. The DRE enables data holders like clinicians, insurers, pharmacies, and diagnostic laboratories to share patient records, regardless of the source or provenance of the information, under the patients' complete control.

The first supported input for the DRE is the CCDA format, which is the content standard recommended by the Blue Button Initiative. The DRE supports all five required sections of the Continuity of Care Document template (allergies, medication, problems, procedures, lab results) and three of the optional sections (encounters, immunizations, and vitals), and is easily extendable to other formats.

The DRE compiles information from multiple sources into a universal Master Health Record that patients can securely store anywhere they like. It allows patients and their authorized health service providers to identify and correct errors, as well as manually reconcile partial matches via a simple web interface. The component is built in Node.js and can be integrated into any stack; the reference implementation uses MongoDB document store.

"We are delighted to bring a solution to the market that we believe can fundamentally change the way consumers manage their health," said Amida's CEO Peter L. Levin. Levin is the former chief technology officer at the Department of Veterans Affairs, where he spearheaded the Blue Button Initiative, which has evolved into a nationwide public-private effort that offers more than half of all Americans access to health information from diverse sources.

"We at the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT -- ONC -- are thrilled that a growing number of participants in our Blue Button Pledge Program are supporting consumer engagement in health by giving people easy electronic access to their own clinical or claims information, and using the Blue Button logo in support of this growing movement," said Lygeia Ricciardi, Director of the Office of Consumer eHealth for ONC.

"Open source components like the DRE lower the economic, operational, and technical barriers to patient access and Meaningful Use," explained Levin. "We know that patient access to information will lower costs by reducing redundancy, and save lives by reducing errors."

About Amida
Amida Technology Solutions is an open-source software company that focuses on data and data security. Our first customers are in the healthcare sector, and rely on Amida to help them design, develop, and deploy enterprise platforms that enable the secure exchange of personal health information. Find us at www.amida-tech.com.

About the Office of National Coordinator for Health Information Technology
The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, ONC, is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. ONC is at the forefront of federal health IT efforts, and is a resource to the entire health system. Its purpose is to support the adoption of health information technology and the promotion of nationwide health information exchange to improve health care. ONC is responsible for leading the expansion and evolution of the Blue Button Initiative to enable all Americans with access to their health records. For more information visit www.healthit.gov/bluebutton and follow @ONC_HealthIT.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Contact:
Peter L. Levin
CEO
+1 617-921-0471
Email Contact