Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)

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OMB Okays VA, DoD iEHR Data-Sharing Plan

Molly Bernhart Walker | FierceGovernmentIT | July 15, 2013

During a July 10 joint hearing of the House Veterans Affairs and Armed Services Committees, VA and Defense Department officials laid out plans to continue pursuing two separate electronic health record solutions with the ability to interoperate in the "near term." Read More »

On Capitol Hill, Concerns Remain About DOD-VA Interoperability

Aisha Chowdhry | FCW | July 13, 2016

Senate appropriators grilled top Veterans Affairs officials about whether the military and VA electronic health records systems are cooperating. VA CIO LaVerne Council, VistA Evolution Program Executive David Waltman and Veterans Health Administration Deputy Chief Medical Information Officer For Strategy and Design Jonathan Nebeker testified at a July 13 hearing before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee for Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies. DOD's director of the DoD/VA Interagency Program Office, Lauren Thompson, and Government Accountability Office Director for Information Management and Technology Resources Issues Valerie Melvin were also at the witness table...

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On Veterans Day, The Healthcare Debt We Owe Our Troops And Veterans

Bart Harmon | Forbes | November 11, 2012

This Veterans Day there will be much commentary on the men and women who risk their lives for our freedom...As we consider the quality of military healthcare – both for those serving in forward areas of combat and also for those veterans returning home, we assume state-of-the-art tools to treat our wounded warriors. Read More »

ONC Challenges State HIE Grantees to Increase Consumer Data Access

Ken Terry | Fierce Health IT | April 14, 2012

In an expansion of its Consumer Pledge program, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) has challenged grantees of ONC's state health information exchange program to increase consumers' access to their own health information. Participating states are being asked to make "concrete progress" in the six months to get healthcare data into consumers' hand so they can share it with family members and multiple providers... Read More »

ONC Chief Urges Vendors To Go For Blue Button ASAP

Mary Mosquera | Healthcare IT News | September 12, 2012

Farzad Mostashari, MD, the national health IT coordinator, has challenged vendors to make it easy for consumers by early 2013 to view, download and transmit to another party their health information in the form of a Blue Button feature. Read More »

ONC Contest Seeks Designers With A Flair For Blue Button

Mary Mosquera | Government Health IT | October 22, 2012

The Blue Button feature for patients to download and use their health information is a capability that is becoming available outside of federal health systems, and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT wants developers to help improve the design to make the medical record more usable and meaningful to patients and their caregivers. Read More »

ONC Continues Push For Blue Button During National HIT Week

Kyle Murphy, PhD | EHR Intelligence | September 16, 2013

Patient engagement is an important new requirement for Stage 2 Meaningful Use, and it’s a potential stumbling block for eligible hospitals and professionals failing to exceed the five-percent threshold required on this during this next phase of the EHR Incentive Programs.

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ONC Continues Push For Blue Button During National HIT Week

Kyle Murphy | EHR Intelligence | September 16, 2013

Patient engagement is an important new requirement for Stage 2 Meaningful Use, and it’s a potential stumbling block for eligible hospitals and professionals failing to exceed the five-percent threshold required on this during this next phase of the EHR Incentive Programs. Read More »

ONC Design Challenge: 'Humanize' Electronic Health Records

Michelle McNickle | InformationWeek | November 9, 2012

The Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) are asking graphic designers to help them put a new patient-friendly spin on printed Blue Button records. The VA's Blue Button initiative lets users log in to a website and view, download and share their health records. Read More »

ONC Expanding Blue Button Capabilities

Sean McCalley | Federal News Radio | October 24, 2012

The Blue Button initiative has already let more than one-million veterans and active-duty troops download their personal health records. But the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information (ONC) has a larger audience in mind. Read More »

ONC Kicks Off Blue Button Video Contest

Mary Mosquera | Government Health IT | October 2, 2012

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT launched its Blue Button video competition Oct. 1 to create awareness of consumers having easy online access to their health information, and to motivate them in how they might use it. Read More »

ONC Looks To Make Blue Button Public, Boost Patient Engagement

Ed Burns | TechTarget | September 12, 2012

Blue Button may have started as a patient engagement tool that allows veterans to access their health information electronically, but government IT officials are looking to bring this type of functionality to civilian patients, too. Read More »

ONC Posts Tech Guide For Blue Button Plus

Mary Mosquera | Government Health IT | January 17, 2013

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT has made available technical descriptions and guidance for its more automated version of the Blue Button feature aimed at giving patients easier access and use of their health information. Read More »

ONC Seeks Jazzed-Up Blue Button Display

Maureen McKinney | ModernHealthcare.com | October 22, 2012

HHS' Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology has launched another in a series of contests related to the federal government's Blue Button for America health-records initiative. Read More »

ONC Taps Redesign Winners As Blue Button Continues Evolution

Jennifer Bresnick | EHR Intelligence | January 23, 2013

Continuing its pursuit of a widely-adopted, interoperable, and user-friendly patient portal, the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) has announced the winners of its competition to provide a comprehensive redesign of the Blue Button interface.  The design improvements come alongside a rebranding of the initiative, now known as Blue Button+. [...] Read More »