VA Blue Button moves ahead with vets’ health records

The Blue Button is a way for a vet to download his or her personal
health record, maybe to bring to a doctor or clinic. It’s a moving
target, a big step toward getting more info available and accessible.
It’s one of many efforts across government to provide better medical
care at lower cost for everyone.

Blue Button draws mostly on data entered by the vet, but also has
aconnection to health information from the Department of
VeteransAffairs. DoD has one too. Because they coordinated so closely
they arenearly identical. You don’t see that every day in large
agencies.

The deal is that Veterans Affairs has greatly accelerated the rate at which it serves vets, with lots more to come.

Vets can access their Blue Button records at myhealth.va.gov

It includes the following now; more to come:

• Emergency contact information
• Medications
• Allergies
• Medical conditions and personal
• Medical history
• Family medical history
• Test results
• Military health history
• Healthcare providers
• Treatment facilities
• Health insurance
• Immunizations
• Labs and tests
• Vitals and readings
• Family health history (self and relatives)